William Kadouch-Chassaing, Co-CEO of Eurazeo since February 2023 and Executive Board member since 2022, was previously Deputy CEO and CFO of Société Générale. An investment banker from 1996 to 2013, he also served on Amundi’s Board. He is a graduate of the École normale supérieure de Lettres et Sciences humaines and Sciences Po Paris.
Cyril de Mont-Marin, Partner at Rothschild & Co Global Advisory, is Global Head of the Financial Institutions Group and Deputy Head of Global Advisory France. Before joining Rothschild & Co in 1997, he began his career in M&A at Banque Paribas. He graduated from Sciences Po and ESCP.
Francis Maréchal, Managing Director of the Royaumont Foundation since 1985, combines a first prize in flute and a degree from ESSEC. He leads cultural projects, including repurposing historic buildings. Based in a restored 13th-century abbey, the Foundation is a major European cultural hub.
Laurence Auer has been the French Ambassador to Greece since 2023, following posts in Bucharest (2020–2023) and Skopje (2013–2016). She held key roles at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission, and the Institut français. From 2006 to 2010, she led the Institut français in the United Kingdom, promoting French culture. She is a Knight of the Légion d’Honneur.
Eric Garandeau served as Cultural Advisor to the President of the French Republic. He later chaired the Centre National du Cinéma (CNC), supporting French cinema and creative industries, then he created his consulting company. As a Director of Public Affairs at TikTok (2020-24) he developed strategic partnerships in culture and education. He is also a pianist, novelist and art Critic.
Denis Lafay is a journalist, editorial adviser to La Tribune, and collection director at Éditions de l’Aube. He founded and led Acteurs de l’économie – La Tribune and is the president of La Tribune Book Prize. The author of twenty-five essays, novels, and monographs on painters, he combines writing with a deep engagement in arts and economics.
Pierre-Aloïs Lombard, founder of the OPAL law office, holds a postgraduate diploma in tax law from Paris V University and a European Diploma in International Management. With experience at PWC, Deloitte, and a major French energy group, he specializes in cross-border tax matters. Fluent in English and Italian, he brings extensive international expertise.
Frédéric Mugnier has led Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny since 1985. Founded in 1863, the estate is renowned for wines like Musigny and Les Amoureuses. He focuses on natural winemaking, preserving the pure expression of terroir. Its wines are among the finest in the world.
Elisabeth Quin, journalist and author, is known as the host of 28 Minutes on Arte, a cultural and current affairs program. A passionate advocate for literature and the arts, she has published several books, including works on vision loss, a condition she personally experiences. Quin’s unique perspective and intellectual rigor have made her a prominent voice in French media.
David Grimal is a world renowned violonist. He teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and the Musikhochschule in Saarbrücken. He is invited to give masterclasses all around the world.
As an international soloist, he performs on the world’s greatest stages with prestigious orchestras and renowned conductors. For 20 years, he was the founder and artistic director of Les Dissonances.
In 2021, he founded Lumières d’Europe.
Serge Haroche is a physicist celebrated for his pioneering work in atomic physics and quantum optics, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2012. A graduate of the École normale supérieure, he began his career at the CNRS and later held roles as a professor at Paris-VI and a visiting scholar at Yale, Stanford, Harvard, and MIT. He also led the ENS physics department for five years. Haroche’s groundbreaking research on Rydberg atoms and matter-radiation interactions advanced quantum information science and introduced innovative laser spectroscopy techniques. In 2001, he was appointed Professor of Quantum Physics at the Collège de France, where he leads the electrodynamics of simple systems group. From 2012, he served as its Administrator, earning international recognition for his contributions to modern physics.
Paul Audi, a former student of the École normale supérieure, is an agrégé and Doctor of Philosophy. After completing a thesis on Rousseau (PUF, 1997) and teaching at Paris-XII, he shifted to publishing. Now a visiting professor in France and abroad, he has authored over 30 books exploring the interplay of ethics and aesthetics in the Modern Age.
Antoine Compagnon is Professor Emeritus at the Collège de France and has taught at Columbia University since 1985. A graduate of École polytechnique and Ph.D. in literature, he was elected to the Académie française in 2022. Author of over 30 works, including editions of Proust, he has won major awards such as the Prix Guizot and Claude Lévi-Strauss Prize.
Nicolas Grimal, a world-renowned Egyptologist, is Professor Emeritus at the Collège de France and a permanent secretary of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Formerly a professor at Paris-Sorbonne, he directed the Institut français d’archéologie orientale in Cairo and led major research on Karnak temples.
Jürgen Mlynek, a physicist, earned his doctorate in 1979 and was a professor at ETH Zurich and the University of Konstanz, specializing in quantum optics. As President of Humboldt University (2000–2010), he elevated it to a leading German institution. He has received the Leibniz Prize (1992) and Germany’s Cross of Merit (2010).
Roee Ozeri is a researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science, specializing in quantum information and quantum computing. His work focuses on exploring quantum systems and their practical applications in technology, contributing to the development of advanced quantum technologies.
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