Thierry Touchais is the Executive Director of The International Polar Foundation, a "Fondation d'Utilité Publique" under Belgian law, founded by polar explorer Alain Hubert. Mr. Touchais is an engineer graduated from Ecole Centrale de Lyon and Berkeley, California and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has a broad international culture acquired through multiple foreign residences in Europe, North America and Latin America. Before joining IPF in 2005, Mr. Touchais held various functions in technology, sales and marketing, business development, fund raising and general management, primarily in the telecommunications sector, within multinational corporations as well as in capital venture financed technology start-ups.