Catherine Paradeise was Professor of Sociology at several French higher education institutions, lastly at Université Paris Est-Marne la Vallée (U-PEM). She was deputy director at the department of social sciences and humanities of French National Centre for Scientific Research and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (ENS-C), and co-founded the Institute for Research and Innovation in Society (IFRIS).
Jean-Claude Thoenig was Professor at the Lausanne Federal Institute of Technology, Dean and Professor at INSEAD (Fontainebleau), co-founder of EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies) and the Ecole de Paris du Management, and Senior Researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.