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Alain Fuchs

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Alain Fuchs
Fuchs in 2018
Born(1953-04-10)10 April 1953
Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
Died8 December 2024(2024-12-08) (aged 71)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
EducationÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Scientific career
FieldsPhysical Chemistry
Institutions
Doctoral advisorHenri Szwarc

Alain Fuchs (10 April 1953 – 8 December 2024) was a Swiss-born French chemist. A Doctor of Science and Professor of Chemistry, he specialised in molecular simulation. Fuchs served as the president of Chimie ParisTech - PSL from 2006 to 2010. He also served as the president of the French National Centre for Scientific Research from 2010 to 2017.[1]'[2] Fuchs became an Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2014.[3]

From 24 October 2017 until 26 June 2024, Fuchs was president of PSL University (Paris Sciences & Lettres).[4][5]

Biography

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Alain Fuchs graduated as a Chemical engineer (1975) at EPFL.[6] In 1983, he became a doctor in Physical Chemistry at Université Paris-Sud (now Paris-Saclay University; his dissertation was “Cristaux vitreux et transition vitreuse” (about glass crystals).[7] He was also a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh (1984–1985).[8]

Career

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Fuchs joined CNRS in 1985 as a research fellow. He became a research director in 1991. In 1995, he became chemistry professor at Université Paris-Sud. Between 2000 and 2005, he set up and directed the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry (UMR 8000) at Campus d'Orsay. He also worked as the President of the agrégation in chemistry from 1998 to 2001 and he directed the Section 13 of the Comité national de la recherche scientifique between 2004 and 2008. He was also Professor at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) in thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics, intermolecular and surface forces, molecular simulation techniques, history of chemistry and physical chemistry. He served as the president of Chimie ParisTech from 2006 to 2010.[6]

In January 2010, he was appointed President of the CNRS, succeeding Catherine Bréchignac (former President) d'Arnold Migus (former managing director).[9][10][11] Fuchs’s mandate ended in 2014. After holding the position in interim for one month,[12] he was appointed again by the Ministry of Higher Education.[13]

In October 2017, Fuchs quit the position of CNRS President and became the President of Université PSL (collegiate university including 9 members and 10 associate members).[4] He left the position for personal reasons in June 2024.[5]

Death

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Fuchs died in Paris on 8 December 2024, at the age of 71.[14][15]

Fields of research

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His research activity was dedicated to the theory, modelling and molecular thermodynamics of fluids confined in various types of porous materials modeling and molecular simulation of confined fluids.[6] “Forced intrusion of water and aqueous solutions in microporous materials: from fundamental thermodynamics to energy storage devices”[16] (Chem. Soc. Rev.,46 (2017)) or “On the use of the IAST method for gas separation studies in porous materials with gate-opening behavior”[17] (Adsorption, 24 (2018)) are part of his last recent and major publications.

Alain Fuchs was a member of the Academia Europaea[18] and he was a member of the editorial board of the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.

Fuchs co-authored two books:

  • Anne Boutin; Gilberte Dosseh; Alain Fuchs (1997). Éléments de thermodynamique. Cours et exercices corrigés pour le deuxième cycle de chimie, chimie-physique et sciences physiques (in French). Elsevier Masson.
  • Georges Bram; Françoise Chamozzi; Alain Fuchs; André Grelon; Caroline Lanciano-Morandat; Laurence Mordenti (1995). La Chimie dans la société. Son rôle, son image (in French). L’Harmattan.

Major works

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Honours and awards

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alain Fuchs.
  1. ^ Jacqué, Philippe (14 January 2010). "Un nouveau patron pour le CNRS". Le Monde. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Anne Peyroche est nommée présidente du CNRS par intérim". CNRS. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  3. ^ "ORDRE NATIONAL DU MÉRITE" (PDF). Journal Officiel de la République Française. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Alain Fuchs elected president of PSL | PSL". www.univ-psl.fr. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Alain Fuchs démissionne de la présidence de PSL- AEFinfo".
  6. ^ a b c Educpro (2017). "Alain Fuchs: Biography" (in French).
  7. ^ Alain Fuchs Cristaux vitreux et transition vitreuse - Université Paris-Sud - 1983 – Doctoral advisor : Henri Szwarc - Dissertation number: 1983PA112380 - SUDOC website - Worldcat : 490643197
  8. ^ Jean-François Preveraud (18 February 2015). "Alain Fuchs, un pédagogue à la tête du CNRS". Industrie&technologies (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  9. ^ Philippe Jacqué (21 January 2010). "Alain Fuchs : une nouvelle chimie pour le CNRS". Le Monde (in French).
  10. ^ "Communiqué - Alain Fuchs est nommé président du CNRS". CNRS (in French). 20 January 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  11. ^ Décret du 21 janvier 2010 portant nomination du président du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, JORF n°0018 du 22 janvier 2010 page 1427, texte n° 90
  12. ^ (in French) Arrêté du 10 janvier 2014 portant attribution de fonctions au Centre national de la recherche scientifique, JORF n°0013 du 16 janvier 2014 page 760 texte n° 46
  13. ^ (in French) Décret du 27 février 2014 portant nomination du président du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, JORF n°0050 du 28 février 2014 page 3943 texte n° 112
  14. ^ "La mort du chimiste Alain Fuchs, ancien président du CNRS et grand promoteur de l'autonomie des universités" (in French). 11 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Décès du Pr Alain Fuchs, ancien président de l'Université PSL de 2017 à 2024". Institut Curie (in French). Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  16. ^ Guillaume Fraux; François-Xavier Coudert; Anne Boutin; Alain Fuchs (2017). "Forced intrusion of water and aqueous solutions in microporous materials: from fundamental thermodynamics to energy storage devices". Chem. Soc. Rev. (46): 7421–7437.
  17. ^ Thomas D. Bennett; Anthony K. Cheetham; Alain H. Fuchs; François-Xavier Coudert (2017). "Interplay between defects, disorder and flexibility in metal-organic frameworks". Nature Chemistry. 9 (9): 11–16. arXiv:1904.09497. Bibcode:2017NatCh...9...11B. doi:10.1038/nchem.2691. PMID 27995920. S2CID 205297136.
  18. ^ "Alain H. Fuchs". Academia Europaea. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  19. ^ (in French) Décret du 13 juillet 2010 portant promotion et nomination, JORF n°0161 du 14 juillet 2010 page 13049, texte n° 4
  20. ^ "Ordre national du mérite - décret du 14 mai 2014" (PDF). Légion d'honneur (in French). 15 May 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  21. ^ "Alain Fuchs reçoit les insignes d'Officier de l'Ordre national du Québec des mains du Premier Ministre du Québec". CNRS (in French). 7 November 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
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