François Fages
François Fages is a French computer scientist whose work spans automated deduction, logic programming and computational systems biology. He earned a doctorate in unification theory at Université Pierre et Marie Curie and established the decidability of associative-commutative unification with several function symbols. At École Normale Supérieure, he worked on rule-based programming as a CNRS researcher and held a part-time assistant professorship at École Polytechnique; his reactive language at Thomson-CSF became ILOG-Rules. He joined Inria in 1999, has coordinated BIOCHAM for systems and synthetic biology since 2002, and received the Michel Monpetit Prize in 2014 and CADE's Skolem award in 2025. As of October 2026, he is a research director at Inria Saclay and a part-time professor at École Polytechnique, and leads LIFEWARE.
Timeline
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1983
A doctorate in automated deduction
Fages is a French computer scientist whose work includes logic programming and systems biology. He studies mathematics and physics at Université Paris-Sud, then computer science at Université Pierre et Marie Curie, and completes a doctorate in unification theory and automated deduction in 1983.
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1984
Associative-commutative unification
His paper “Associative-Commutative Unification” appears at CADE in 1984. His work establishes decidability of associative-commutative unification with several function symbols.
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1985–1998
CNRS and ILOG-Rules
At École Normale Supérieure, he works on rule-based programming as a CNRS researcher and holds a part-time assistant professorship at École Polytechnique from 1985 to 1998. At Thomson-CSF, he creates a reactive rule-based language in 1988; ILOG industrializes it as ILOG-Rules in 1996.
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1999
Joining Inria
In 1999, he joins Inria and develops an interest in computational systems biology.
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Since 2002
Developing BIOCHAM
Since 2002, he coordinates BIOCHAM, the Biochemical Abstract Machine, software that uses formal methods to model, analyze and synthesize chemical reaction networks. The system supports systems and synthetic biology.
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2014
A Michel Monpetit Prize
In 2014, he receives the Michel Monpetit Prize from the French Academy of Sciences.
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2025
A Skolem award for unification
In 2025, he receives the CADE Skolem award for his 1984 paper “Associative-Commutative Unification.”
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As of October 2026
LIFEWARE at Inria Saclay
As of October 2026, he is research director (DRCE) at Inria Saclay and a part-time professor at École Polytechnique. He heads LIFEWARE, a computational systems biology and optimization team, and has led it since 2014.
Sources and credits
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