INRIA - A tribute to Gilles Kahn

It is with great sorrow that INRIA's management committee and personnel announce the death of their Chairman and CEO, Gilles Kahn, on February 9.

INRIA's Chief Executive Officer since 2004, Gilles Kahn's career was inextricably bound to the history of the institute he joined in 1976.

An impassioned researcher with insatiable curiosity, he was one of the major figures in his scientific field. A pioneering director, he gave impetus to the nationwide development of the institute through his participation in the creation of its research units. As Vice-President for Research, he had a decisive influence on its strategy. A visionary chief executive officer, he was an advocate of forward thinking in science, paving the way for joint research between information technology and life sciences, while advancing the Institute in an international direction and propelling its development.

The first computer scientist elected to the French Academy of Science, ardent defender of collaborative international scientific projects and relentless promoter of science, Gilles Kahn was involved in many partnerships with the most prestigious organisations in the world. Gilles Kahn was a great man of science. For his colleagues at INRIA, he was a leader and a model. He was and will remain, for those that were close to him, a warm and charismatic man whose simplicity and human qualities will remain in their memories and in their hearts.

The people at INRIA are profoundly saddened by this loss and express their deepest sympathy to his family.

We have put together a few of his New Year’s wishes to personnel at INRIA, which display his simplicity and attachment to the Institute.

If you would like to pay a personal tribute to Gilles Kahn or send a picture showing him as a researcher or a manager, please send them by email.

The INRIA management committee and personnel would like to thank all those who sent in their tributes in memory of Gilles Kahn.