As the former CEO of AREVA Inc., Jacques Besnainou was responsible for the management and strategic direction of the company's North American business with more than 5,000 collaborators. He has 20 years of management and systems engineering experience in both France and the United States. While with AREVA, he was a leading spokesperson for the U.S. nuclear industry following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. He also simultaneously restored of cost and schedule on two multi‐billion dollar U.S. Department of Energy projects

Besnainou holds Master of Science degrees in Mathematics, Engineering and Public Policy from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines - France's leading engineering schools. He earned a bachelor's of science degree in Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique.