Jean-Marie Basset, is presently the director of the Laboratory of Surface Organometallic Chemestry (CNRS/CPE Lyon) that he created in 1991. He graduaded from the Ecole Supérieure de Chimie Industrielle de Lyon and got his PhD in 1969. He is also the scientific director of CPE Lyon Jean-Marie Basset is the author of 350 publications plus 35 patents and has received several national and international awards. He is member of the French Academy of Sciences and of the French Academy of Technology.

Jean-Marie Basset has devoted his full scientific life to bridge the gap existing between two fields of catalysis: homogeneous catalysis which is quite connected to molecular organometallic chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis more connected to surface science.