Yves Jeannin studied at the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris (Engineer in 1954, graduation rank: first). His first job was at the IRSID for a sixteen-month stay in London at the Royal School of Mines with Prof. F.D. Richardson. He worked on the thermodynamics of the oxidation of iron-chromium alloys. He is preparing a PhD thesis in Physical Sciences (1962) under the supervision of Pr J. Bénard, on the crystallochemistry of titanium sulphides. In 1963, he spent a period in the United States as a Post-doctoral Research Associate of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, Argonne National Laboratory, and Iowa State University.
He became a lecturer at the Paul Sabatier University of Toulouse in 1964, then Professor at the Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris (UPMC), in 1974 where he taught in preparation for the medical school entrance examination at the Pitié-Salpétrière Hospital, in inorganic chemistry, the Master of Chemistry at UPMC, the Master of Chemistry at LÉcole Normale Supérieure, the Advanced Study Diploma (DEA) in inorganic chemistry, the DEA in crystallography, the preparation for the agrégation in chemistry at LÉcole Normale Supérieure.
Jeannin became head of the Chemistry group of the Lagarrigue Commission in charge of rebuilding the chemistry curricula of high schools (1976-1980). He was a member of the jury for the agrégation examination in chemistry (1971-1974), a member of the jury for admission to the École Normale Supérieure (9 years), and a member of the jury for admission to the École Polytechnique (2 years). At the request of the Ministry, he took part in the setting up of the internal agrégation in Physical Sciences (President of the jury, 1985-1988). He is a member of the Commission proposing to the Minister the General Inspectors, member of the recruitment jury of the Engineers of the Corps of Mines. He will also be a chargé de mission at the French Ministry of Research (4 years).
Jeannin is a member of the University's Scientific Council, President of the Research Commission of the UFR of Chemistry, and a member of the Academic Council of the École Normale Supérieure.