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Philippe Mauguin appointed INRAE Chair & CEO
PRESS RELEASE - Following French Council of Ministers meeting, Philippe Mauguin has been reappointed as INRAE’s Chair and CEO for a new four-year term. This appointment by decree follows a vote by French deputies and senators, who approved the French President’s decision to reappoint Mr Mauguin to his post following hearings before each of the two chambers’ Economic Affairs Committees on 29 July and 14 October 2020. As part of the selection process, Mr Mauguin outlined his professional achievements—including the merger between INRA and IRSTEA that came into effect on 1 January 2020—and discussed the new institute’s research priorities to tackle the major global change facing the world today.
Published on 22 October 2020
Philippe Mauguin, who was appointed Chair and CEO of INRA on 21 July 2016, had been serving as the Chair and CEO of INRAE following the merger with IRSTEA. Following a selection process of hearings and votes, his candidature received 30 yes votes and one abstention in the National Assembly and 33 yes votes and two blank votes in the Senate. The decree issued today by the Council of Ministers officialises his appointment for a new four-year term.
The hearings were an opportunity for Mr Mauguin to set out the main priorities for the coming years at INRAE, a Public Scientific and Technical Research Establishment with 12,000 employees working at more than 100 sites attached to 18 centres in mainland and overseas France:
- Address the major issues of global change such as the climate crisis and biodiversity loss in the fields of agriculture, food and forestry;
- Accelerate the ecological transition of food systems, taking into account farmers’ incomes in the crop and animal livestock sectors;
- Support the development of the bioeconomy as part of a circular approach to resource management (water, nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus);
- Develop a comprehensive approach to health, in line with the One Health concept and including preventive nutrition;
- Deploy digital sciences and artificial intelligence to support these transitions.
The “INRAE 2030” strategy, which follows collaborative efforts within the institute and in conjunction with INRAE’s main partners, will soon be presented to the Scientific Advisory Board and the Board of Directors.
The appointment process for the Chair & CEO of INRAE
31 May 2020: Call for applications for the post of INRAE Chair & CEO
30 June 2020: Application submission deadline
8 July 2020: Hearings with candidates held by the evaluation committee
16 July 2020: Philippe Mauguin put forward by the President of the French Republic
29 July 2020: Hearing held by the National Assembly Economics Affairs Committee
14 October 2020: Hearing held by the Senate Economics Affairs Committee
21 October 2020: Appointment by the Council of Ministers
22 October 2020: Publication of the decree appointing Philippe Mauguin, Chair & CEO of INRAE
About Philippe Mauguin
Philippe Mauguin was born in 1963. After obtaining a general civil engineering degree in bridges, water and forestry, he then specialised in the socio-economics of innovation (MINES ParisTech) and became an auditor for the Institute of Advanced Development Studies and Regional Planning in Europe (IHEDATE). From 1987 to 1989, he was a researcher at the Centre for the Sociology of Innovation MINES ParisTech. From 1989 to 1992, he was in charge of the agrifood sector at the French Ministry of Research and later served as adviser to the minister from 1992 to 1993. From 1993 to 1997, Mr Mauguin was Director of Agriculture and Bioenergy at the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and Director of the Agriculture for Chemicals and Energy (AGRICE) scientific interest group. From 1997 to January 2002, he was adviser to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin for agriculture, forestry and food. He then served as Director of the French National Institute of Designations of Origin (INAO) from February 2002 to March 2006 before being appointed Regional and Interdepartmental Director of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (DRIAAF) for Île-de-France from April 2006 to May 2009. He then took up the post of Director of Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries until May 2012. Following this position, he was the Chief of Staff for Stéphane Le Foll, Minister of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry, until June 2016. He was appointed Chair and CEO of INRA – the French National Institute for Agricultural Research on 21 July 2016.