Academic palms

This Tuesday, July 5 2022 were awarded with the academic palms (knight grade) Pr. Keitaro Nakatani, Pr. Joanne Xie et Dr. Laurent Galmiche to reward their career and their involvment within the teaching community.

What are the academic palms?

The order of the academic palms is a French honorary order. The academic palms were instituted by Napoleon I in 1808 to honor members of the University, with three grades at the time: titulars, officers of the University and officers of the Academies. The terms of their attribution were extended in 1866 to non-teaching persons having rendered eminent services to education; they became a decoration.

Pr. Keitaro Nakatani : to developp franco-japanese relations

Born in Japan, Keitaro Nakatani is a foreign alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure (ENS St. Cloud/Fontenay) and obtained his PhD in chemistry from Université Paris-Sud (Orsay, now Université Paris-Saclay) in 1991. He has been a research fellow at CNRS, then a university professor at École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (ENS Paris-Saclay) since 1999. His research field is photochemistry, more particularly the study of photostimulable functional materials based on photochromic molecules. He has led several national and international research projects, including the French-Japanese IRP (International Research Project) "NanoSynergetics" which he is currently leading. At ENS Paris-Saclay, he was a member of the scientific council, director of the chemistry department of ENS Paris-Saclay and of the PPSM laboratory (supramolecular and macromolecular photophysics and photochemistry), and then vice-president in charge of research (2014-2020). Keitaro Nakatani is a recipient of the CNRS Bronze Medal (1999) and the Certificate of Honor ("Commendation") from the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (2017).

Pr. Joanne Xie : to commit in teaching

After obtaining her master's degree in pharmaceutical chemistry in China, Joanne Xie completed a DEA in pharmaceutics with a specialization in biotechnology at the University Paul Sabatier Toulouse III in 1985 and obtained her PhD in medicinal chemistry at the University René Descartes (Paris V) in 1988. She worked as a temporary teaching and research assistant (ATER) and then as a lecturer at the Pierre and Marie Curie University (now Sorbonne University), before becoming a professor at the ENS Paris-Saclay in 2004. Her research field is organic chemistry, more particularly glycochemistry applied to biological systems. In addition to her research and teaching work, she has distinguished herself by leading the chemistry department at ENS Paris-Saclay (2011-2015), by being a member of the steering committee and head of the training pole of Labex Charmmmat (2012-...), by being co-leader of the MOCHI international Master's program (2017-...) and by being an alternate member of the National Council of Universities (32nd section, 2016-...).

Dr. Laurent Galmiche : to honour the engineers, technicians and administrative staff

Laurent Galmiche obtained his PhD in chemistry in Brest in 1999. He has been a research engineer at the PPSM laboratory of ENS Paris-Saclay since 2005. His field is fluorescence chemistry, more particularly that of tetrazines. His research work has led to the development of LumicyanoTM, a commercial product resulting from a collaboration with Crime Science Technology, which allows the revelation of fluorescent fingerprints in a single step in a fumigation booth without the need for dye or powder-based post-treatments. In parallel to his research, Laurent Galmiche is involved in the ENS Paris-Saclay authorities: first in the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee and then in the Scientific Council, he has a particular interest in the working conditions and career progression of engineers, technicians and administrative staff (ITA).