 Alain Bensoussan is a former student of the École polytechnique (X1960), a graduate of ENSAE and a doctor of mathematics from the Faculty of Sciences in Paris under the supervision of Jacques-Louis Lions.He was a lecturer at the École polytechnique from 1970 to 1986 and a professor at the École normale supérieure from 1980 to 1985.He was President of INRIA from 1984 to 1996, President of the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) from 1996 to 2003, President of the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) from 1999 to 2002.