Jean-Yves Le Gall appointed President of CNES

Wednesday 3 April 2013, the government appointed Jean-Yves Le Gall as the new President of the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency.

Born in 1959, Jean-Yves Le Gall graduated from the École Supérieure d'Optique engineering school in 1981 and obtained a doctorate in engineering from Paris-Sud University in 1983. He began his career in 1981 as a CNES grantee/researcher at the LAS space astronomy laboratory, attached to the French scientific research centre CNRS. In 1985, he joined the Directorate General of Industry and in 1988 was appointed technical advisor to the Minister for Postal Services, Telecommunications and Space. He was subsequently CEO of Novespace in 1993 and Assistant Director General of CNES in 1996. In 1998, he was appointed Chairman & CEO of Starsem and then in 2001 CEO of Arianespace, where he was made Chairman & CEO in 2007.
On the announcement of his appointment, Jean-Yves Le Gall made the following statement:
“I would like to thank President François Hollande and his government for bestowing on me the honour of this appointment as CNES President.
I would also like to pay tribute to the men and women who, for more than 50 years, have made CNES what it is today, as well as to all the Presidents and Director Generals of the agency who have preceded me, beginning with Yannick d’Escatha, whom it is my privilege to succeed.”
“Thanks to their efforts, CNES is now an undisputed leader setting the standard and driving innovation to create jobs. In a vibrant and fast-changing environment, I shall strive relentlessly to ensure that it remains an ambition for France,” he added.

CNES press contacts:
Alain Delrieu – Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 74 04 – alain.delrieu@cnes.fr
Pascale Bresson – Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39 – pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Julien Watelet – Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 78 37 – julien.watelet@cnes.fr
Press office – Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 76 88 – cnes-presse@cnes.fr


www.cnes.fr/presse

CP013-2013 - Nomination JYL Président du CNES_va.pdf (pdf - 194.6 KB)