Catherine Bréchignac (born 1946) is a French physicist. She is a commander of the Légion d'honneur, "secrétaire perpétuel honoraire" of the Académie des sciences and former president of the CNRS ("National Centre for Scientific Research"). The Times says she has "a formidable reputation for determination, decisiveness and an aptitude for analysing and clarifying complex matters."
She studied at the École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-aux-Roses and received her DEA (Masters-level qualification) and doctorate at the Faculté des sciences d'Orsay and became a Research Director in 1985.
In 1989 she became director of the Aimé Cotton laboratory, and was Director General of the CNRS from 1997 to 2000. She became President of the Institut d'optique théorique et appliquée ("Institute of Optical Theory and Practice") in 2003 and of the Palais de la découverte ("Palace of Discovery") in 2004. In 2005 she was elected future president of the International Council for Science (ICSU). She was President of the CNRS at the Council of Ministers from 2006 to 2010 where she was responsible for 25,000 employees, 12,000 of whom are researchers, and a budget of 2.42 billion Euros. She was "secrétaire perpétuel" (permanent secretary) of the Académie des sciences, Division 1, from 2011 to 2018.
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