Men and numbers
Nomination. Having worked in large public and private establishments, the trained engineer takes the helm of a venerable institution. Founded in 1919, the Toulouse school trains some 1,700 students each year in the fields of life sciences, agriculture and agri-food. Its mission will be to continue its modernization to respond to ecological and societal challenges.
Michael Mourez is the new general director of the Purpan engineering school. He succeeds Eric Latge who had held office for nine years. The new CEO knows the institution well since he joined it in 2020, first as Director of Innovation, then as Director of Education and Deputy Director General.
1,700 students trained each year
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Founded in 1919 in Toulouse, the establishment specializes in life sciencesl’agriculture and theagri-food. Each year it trains nearly 1,700 students (from Bac+3 to Bac+5) and employs nearly 200 employees including 85 permanent teachers or teacher-researchers, plus nearly 450 temporary workers.
The new general director will be keen to pursue the projects carried out by his predecessor. For five years, alongside Éric Latgé, Michaël Mourez was in charge of modernization of trainingthe digital transition of the school as well as the strengthening of international partnerships. The establishment now has links with partner schools in around fifty countries.
A modernization that the new leader intends to continue. He now wishes to adapt the courses and teaching methods “to the challenges of ecological and societal transitions”specifies the school in a press release dated January 5, 2026. “I have seen the Purpan school transform: integration into the experimental public establishment-University of Toulouse, rise of double degrees, increased influence of our research, management of the Covid crisis, arrival on ParcourSup, and many other major achievements such as the birth of a new building or the shaping of our CSR commitment”details Michaël Mourez. And to add:
Today, I take over with a simple ambition: to continue this momentum, by strengthening our educational uniqueness and our attractiveness, while remaining faithful to the heritage of excellence and innovation which is the strength of our school. »
Passed through X, the Pasteur Institute and Harvard…
To carry out the mission he has set for himself, Michaël Mourez will be able to draw on his strong experience in project management within large institutions, both public and private.
EngineerPolytechnic SchoolMichaël Mourez obtained a doctorate in microbiology at thePasteur Institute of Paris and continued his postdoctoral training at the prestigious medical school of Harvardin Boston, where he worked on the toxins ofanthrax.
At the end of this brilliant academic career, from 2003 he held the position of assistant professor then of full professor at the University of Montrealin Canada. Within the school of veterinary medicine, he notably developed a research program on Escherichia coli pathogenic. In addition to obtaining numerous funding and research grants, the researcher is the author or co-author of more thanaround fifty scientific publications.
Then by Sanofi and Evotec
Seven years later, in 2011, Michaël Mourez joined the industry. First at SanofiFrench giant of biopharmacieinasmuch as head of the antibacterial research portfolio in the therapeutic field of infectious diseases, then at Evotec after the transfer of this portfolio by Sanofi. At Evotec, the engineer supervised the technological platforms targeting serious bacterial infectionsincluding drug resistance. A position he held until his recruitment five years ago by the Toulouse engineering school.
Today, EI Purpan is two training sites : that of Toulouse and that of Lamothe at Seysses. The Toulouse establishment is thus theone of only two French schools equipped with his own agricultural estate. He has been there since 1973 production, pedagogy et research on 250 ha to train its students in particular on the issues of agroecology and animal welfare. The school also has seven research platforms and laboratories high level carried out by 75 teacher-researchers.
In April 2024, the engineering school started the construction ofa new teaching building of 2,700 m² including two amphitheaters with 320 seats. Delivered at the start of the 2025 school year, it represented an investment of €8 million. Objective ? Meet their educational needs. Indeed, in five years, the school has almost doubled to now reach 350 engineers and 60 agro-bachelors graduating per year.
