Did you know? (Part 2)
As our 2nde students begin their post-baccalaureate orientation cycle, I’d like to share with you Albert Jacquard’s thought and story:
“We shouldn’t go to school to swallow the curriculum, bury ourselves in homework and lessons, and pile up diplomas!
Learning is first and foremost about questioning, formulating questions, seeking answers and following one’s own path.
Learning is about developing irreverence, initiative and a free spirit. It’s about building intelligence.”
Albert Jacquard was born in Lyon on December 23, 1925.
A brilliant student, Albert Jacquard passed two baccalaureates in 1943: in mathematics and philosophy. For the next two years, he enrolled in a preparatory class with the aim of entering a grande école. In 1945, he entered the prestigious École Polytechnique, from which he graduated as an engineer specialising in state manufacturing. He then went on to study at the Institute of Statistics, from which he earned a second engineering degree in organisation and methods.
From 1951 to 1961, he worked for the Société d’exploitation industrielle des tabacs et des allumettes. He then spent two years at the Ministry of Health, where he was deputy director of the equipment department. Then, in 1965, he became a research fellow at the Institut national de la démographie (Ined), a position he held until 1966.
It was at this point that he left to study genetics at Stanford University in California. On his return to France, he took up a more senior position at Ined, and completed two doctorates at the same time. First, he completed his training in genetics, then, two years later, specialised in human biology. His scientific background enabled him to become a WHO expert in genetics between 1972 and 1985.
His scientific career came to an end in 1991, after a spell as scientific advisor to Ined. Between 1983 and 1988, he was appointed a member of the Comité consultatif national d’étique pour les sciences de la vie et de la santé, having been made an Officer of the Légion d’honneur and a Commander of the Ordre national du mérite in 1980.
He died on September 11, 2013, at the age of 87.
