N° 26–1999: ESA Council elects new Chairman

Mr Bensoussan was elected at the 142nd meeting of the ESA Council, held at the Agency's headquarters in Paris on 23 and 24 June 1999. He will take over from the Norwegian Hugo Parr, Director General in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, who has presided over the ESA Council for the last three years and whose term of office ends on 30 June 1999.

Alain Bensoussan, born on 12 May 1940, is an engineer by training. He graduated from the "Ecole Polytechnique" and the "Ecole nationale de la statistique et de l'administration economique" and holds a doctorate in mathematics. He is a correspondent Member of the French Academy of Sciences. Prior to becoming President of CNES in 1996 he was President of INRIA (Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique) from 1984 to 1996. He has been a member of the ESA Council since 1996.