Etienne-Emile Beaulieu is a French biologist, doctor of medicine (1955) and doctor of sciences (1963). He was director of a research unit at INSERM and professor of biochemistry at the University of Paris-Sud. He is professor emeritus at the Collège de France and was notably president of the French Academy of Sciences in 2003 and 2004. A specialist in steroid hormones, he is known worldwide for the development of the anti-progesterone RU 486 (or abortion pill). He also founded the Baulieu Institute in June 2008, to support its research against Alzheimer's disease and depression. Etienne-Emile Beaulieu was elected member of the Academy of Sciences on February 8, 1982 and chaired it in 2003-2004. Professor emeritus at the Collège de France, from 1996 to 2004 he was a member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee for life and health sciences. He has been a member of the Academy of Medicine since 2002. He has also been a member of the American National Academy of Sciences since 1990. He has received several prizes and distinctions in France, such as the INSERM honorary prize in 2015, and abroad, such as the Albert-Lasker prize in 1989.