Hervé Toulhoat graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris in 1976, received a PhD in chemical engineering from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris in 1980, and a national accreditation to supervise research from Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, in 2002. He is Deputy Director of the Scientific Management of IFP Energies nouvelles, based in Rueil-Malmaison. He is also a member of the editorial board of Journal of Catalysis.