Alice Saunier-Seité

Alice Louise Saunier-Seïté (26 April 1925 – 4 August 2003) was a French geographer, historian, university professor and politician of the Parti Républicain. She was a State Secretary and the first female minister for universities, serving from 1978 to 1981, when she also briefly served as Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for family and women. She is remembered as the first female dean and first female rector of a university in France.

Life and work Academia Alice Louise Saunier attended the Lycée de Tournon where she came into contact with the French Resistance movement. She then began studying oriental languages at a special school, and she completed her studies with a diploma. She went on to work at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) between 1958 and 1963 and at the same time studied for her doctorate in geography. She finished that work in 1963 for which she devoted one thesis to the Oetzal Alps and an additional thesis about the Alpine wind, called Suedfoehn, which blows over Innsbruck, Austria. Upon finishing her PhD, in 1963, she was appointed geography lecturer in Brest, France and soon thereafter she was appointed a lecturer in geography at the University of Rennes, soon taking on a professorship in geography there in 1965. In 1968 she returned to the University of Brest and when she was named dean of the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences she became the first woman to serve as a dean in France.

The next year, Saunier took over a professorship at the University of Paris V (Université Paris-Descartes) where she worked from 1969 to 1970, before moving to the newly founded University of Paris XI (Université Paris-Sud). There she became the director of the Institut Universitaire Technology (IUT) in Sceaux, between 1970 and 1973.

After leaving government, Saunier-Seïté served as a professor at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM) between 1981 and 1994 and was the first woman to take up a chair at this renowned school. In addition to her teaching work, she was a member of the Paris City Council from 1983 to 2002, where she initially dealt with traffic, police and security issues before later becoming chairwoman of the city planning committee. She was also involved in the National Movement of Local Politicians, of which she was chairwoman from 1990 to 1998. Her first marriage, to Élie-Jacques Picard (during which time she was published using the name Alice Picard), ended in divorce. Her second marriage was to Jérome Seïté, who predeceased her. In 1995, Commander of Arts and Letters In 1994, Commander of the Legion of Honour In 1973, Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms

Selected works In addition to her teaching and political career, Alice Saunier-Seïté wrote books that dealt with geographical and historical topics. Her works, all in French, include:

Les Vallées septentrionales du massif Oetztal, using her married name, Alice Picard, 1963 Contribution à l'étude du Suedfoehn d'Innsbruck, using the name Alice Picard, 1965 Le comte Boissy d'Anglas. Conventionnel et pair de France, France Univers, 1980 En premier ligne. De la communale aux universities, Plon, 1982 Remettre l'État à sa place, Plon / Le club Figaro Magazine, 1984 Une Europe à la carte, Plon / Le club Figaro Magazine, 1985 Le Cardinal de Tournon, le Richelieu de François Premiere. La Voute, Les Deux Mondes, 1998 Les Courtenay. Destin d'une illustrious family bourguignonne, France Empire, 1998 Dictionnaire des monuments d'Île-de-France, 1999 Giscard à deux voix, Perrin, 2000