FIM Chief Executive Officer

Stéphane Desprez

Mr Desprez joined the FIM as Deputy CEO in October 2011 until early January 2012 when he took over from Guy Maitre as CEO. Born in 1966 in Nancy (France); he is married and has three children.

Stéphane Desprez is a graduate of ENSAM Paris (MS Engineering) and of Purdue University (MBA Strategy & Finance) in West Lafayette (IN, USA). He is bilingual in French and English.

He started his professional career in France as a Consultant and Project Manager and then moved to Houston (Texas, USA), to take in charge the General Management of Pro-Metal a US subsidiary of CFF. He returned to France in 1999 to take the position of Director of Operations of a Sports Event Management company, for which he also acted as Tournament Director of the Air France Rugby Sevens, and initiated a Rugby Sevens Tour project which was the precursor of the IRB Sevens Tour. In 2004, he started with the early days of the organising committee of the Rugby World Cup 2007 as Head of Planning, and then joined the Executive Committee as Director of Competition. Following two years of freelance assignments, Stéphane Desprez was appointed Secretary General of the Fédération Internationale de l’Aéronautique (FAI) in January 2010.