Dominique Langevin

Dominique Langevin (; born 24 July 1947) is a French researcher in physical chemistry. She is research director at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique and leads the liquid interface group in the Laboratory of Solid State Physics at the University of Paris-Sud. She was the Life and Physical Sciences Panel chair for the European Space Sciences Committee of the European Science Foundation from 2013-2021. Her books include Light Scattering by Liquid Surfaces and Complementary Techniques and Emulsions, microemulsions and foams (2020).

Early life The daughter of Maurice Cruchon and Jacqueline Maujean, she was born Dominique Anne-Marie Cruchon in Angoulême. In 1969, she married the mathematician Michel Langevin.

Education She received a PhD from the women's École Normale Supérieure (ENS Sèvres) in Paris, and did a third-cycle thesis at the Laboratory of Hertzian Spectroscopy, supervised by Marie-Anne Bouchiat. Langevin conducted post-doctoral research at the Pierre Gilles de Gennes laboratory at the Collège de France.

Career During the 1970s, Langevin established the surfactant group at the École Normale Supérieure. During the early 1990s, she established the "Films de tensioactifs flexibles" research group. From 1994 to 1998, Langevin was director of the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal in Bordeaux.

Research Her areas of research have included the experimental study of soft matter physics, including the surface of liquid crystals, mixtures of surfactants and polymers, the effects of nanoparticles on foams, foam drainage and soap film drainage, and the surface rheology of ultralow tension surfactant-oil-water systems.

Langevin has made significant contributions relating the mechanical properties of interfaces to the stability of foams and emulsions. Her work has broad application in industry and medicine, relating to preparation of foods and medicines, detergents, construction materials, fire-fighting, mineral extraction, recovery of pollutants, and nuclear waste treatment.

Awards Langevin has received awards including:

2012, Kasha Mittala (Kash Mittal Award) for Surfactant in Solution Science 2012, Overbeek Gold Medal, European Colloid and Interface Society (ECIS) 2009, European Ambassador for Creativity and Innovation, European Commission 2006, Légion d’honneur 2002, CNRS silver medal, Centre national de la recherche scientifique 1991, Grand prix de l’Académie des Sciences