Dominique de Werra was born in Switzerland in 1942. He graduated in physical engineering at EPFL in 1965, and in 1969, a doctorate in technical sciences. From 1969 to 1971 he was professor at Waterloo University (Canada) in the Management Sciences department. He has been a visiting professor in various European and American High Schools. In 1971 he became professor of Operations Research in Mathematics at EPFL. In 1990, he was appointed Vice President of EPFL and in addition, he became Director of training in autumn 1993. His research focuses on discrete mathematics (combinatorial optimization, graph theory, algorithms, etc.) and their applications to industrial and informatics technology. He has participated and directed several interdisciplinary projects in production, distribution, energy and scheduling. His work leads in particular to the time management problem and specifically to calendar management for important projects (sports, education, etc.). In 1987-1988, he chaired the EURO association which encompasses the Operational Research in Europe. He is Dr. h.c. of Paris University and Ecole Polytechnique in Poznan, and he was the winner of the European gold medal (EURO) of Operational Research in 1995. In March 2000 he was appointed Dean of International Affairs.