Every year the CNRS Gold Medal is awarded to internationally renowned members of the scientific community for their outstanding contributions in various fields, which actively advance scientific research in France. Since its creation in 1954, the Gold Medal has been a crowning tribute to the work and careers of many eminent scientists.

The CNRS Directorate General awarded the 1997 CNRS Gold Medal to Jean Rouxel, member of the French Academy of Sciences, professor at the Collège de France, Director of the Materials Institute of Nantes (CNRS/ Nantes University joint unit).

Jean Rouxel specializes in the chemistry of solids. Over the course of his career, he has constantly worked to develop a whole new field of chemistry involving «low dimensional» compounds (leaves or fibers) in order to obtain chemical or physical properties which primarily act in one or two directions in space. Thanks to his work, significant progress was made in understanding the chemical bonding of solids. He has devoted particular attention to incommensurate systems that do not respect a periodic law of atom distribution. He also elaborated a theory on bonding described in terms of «holes» and anti-bonds, instead of the traditional view according to which bonds are populated by electrons. Jean Rouxel·s work greatly contributed to the development of new catalysts, new batteries for electric cars and new materials for electrochromic screen displays.

Jean Rouxel is one of the founding fathers of «cool chemistry » in France - a chemical process in which reactions are produced at average or room temperatures. In this domain, he launched a school of thought on the synthesis of new materials made up of solid precursor compounds. This process made it possible to produce original materials with specific properties. Jean Rouxel notably developed a family of intercalated compounds derived from chalcogenides, obtained from sulfur, tellurium and selenium, which provide excellent models for understanding the geometric and energetic mechanisms that regulate the intercalation/disintercalation processes.

Jean Rouxel was born on February 24, 1935, and has a Ph.D. in physics. In 1957, he began his career at the University of Rennes as an assistant lecturer, then become project manager in 1960. A year later he was promoted to senior lecturer in Bordeaux (1961) then became a full professor in Nantes in 1963. In 1991, he also became a professor at the Institut Universitaire de France, and in 1996, a professor at the College de France.

In addition to his university career, Jean Rouxel has held a number of important scientific positions with various scientific organizations. He also founded the Solid State Chemistry Laboratory in Nantes in 1963, and when in 1988 it became the Materials Institute of Nantes, he assumed its directorship, and has been the director ever since.

In 1988, he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences and is an associate member of several academies outside of France.

Jean Rouxel is the author of a great number of publications. He is also the editor and co-writer of two books on chemistry. He is editor or associate editor of many chemistry reviews, to which contributes articles. He holds seven patents, most of which have to do with batteries and electrodes.

Numerous medals and distinctions have been awarded to Jean Rouxel in recognition of his scientific work. Among other honors he has received: the 1974 CNRS Silver Medal, an award from the Academy of Science and the Society for Industrial Developments, the Debye Award (A.C.S. - Cornell), the F.M.C. Award (Princeton), and the Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis (1993).

Jean Rouxel is a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, an officer of the National Order of Merit, and a Commander in the Palmes Academiques - a decoration awarded by the French Ministry of Education for service rendered to education in France.

Every year the CNRS Gold Medal is awarded to an outstanding, internationally renowned figure who has actively contributed to advancing research. Since its creation in 1954, this is the fourth time it has been awarded to a chemist. Other laureates in this discipline include such eminent scientists as Georges Chaudron (1969), Jean-Marie Lehn (1981) and Marc Julia (1990).

The scientific works of Jean Rouxel (in French)

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