Denis Ranque

Denis Ranque, born in 1952, is a graduate of France's Ecole Polytechnique and the Corps des Mines.

He began his career at the French Ministry for Industry, where he held various positions in the energy sector, before joining the Thomson group in 1983 as planning director.

The following year, he moved to the electron tubes division, first as director of space business, then, from 1986, as director of the division's microwave tubes department. Two years later, the electron tubes division became the affiliate Thomson Tubes Electroniques, and Denis Ranque took over as chief executive of the company in 1989.

In April 1992, he was appointed chairman and CEO of Thomson Sintra Activités Sous-marines. Four years later, he became CEO of Thomson Marconi Sonar, the sonar systems joint venture set up by Thomson-CSF and GEC-Marconi.

In January 1998, Denis Ranque was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of the Thomson-CSF group, now called Thales.

Since October 2001, he is also Chairman of the board of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, and since September 2002, Chairman of the Circle de l'Industrie, an association which unites France's biggest industrial companies.

In 1999, Denis Ranque was made Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur, and in 2003 was also decorated as Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite. Furthermore, Denis Ranque has been appointed honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in July 2004.

Denis Ranque is married and has five children.