Prof. Edouard Brézin, Former President of the French Academy of Sciences and President of The Cyprus Institute’s Board of Trustees was promoted to the rank of Commandeur dans l'Ordre de la Lègion d' Honneur by the French President Francois Hollande, in recognition of his meritorious services in promoting scientific research and education.

The Légion d'honneur is the highest decoration in France for military and civilian achievements. It was established by law in 1802 and has been recognised by all political systems and governments since then. The bearers of the decoration form an order, of which the President of France is the Grand Master. The President of the French Republic appoints all members of the Order by convention, on the advice of the Government.

French nationals are received into the légion, for eminent merit in military or civil life.

The Cyprus Institute cordially congratulates Prof. Brezin for the honour he has been awarded.

Edouard Brézin is an École Polytechnique graduate and received a Doctor of Sciences from the University of Paris. He was a member of the Theoretical Physics Office at the Atomic Energy Commission in Saclay. Previously a full-time professor at École Polytechnique, he is also a professor at Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University also attributed to École Normale Supérieure, honorary professor at the École Polytechnique Department of Physics, and professor at the Institut Universitaire de France since 1991. He has taught frequently at universities abroad, most notably at Princeton, Harvard (Loeb lectures) in 1974-1975 and 1982, Oxford in 1983 and Amsterdam (Van der Waals Chair) in 2000. Brézin was Director of the Physics Department at Ecole Normale Supérieure (1986-1991), President of the CNRS Board of Directors (1992-2000), President of the EDF Scientific Council (1995-2001), member of the Scientific Council of the International Center for Theoretical Physics (Trieste) and President of the French Physics Society.