Pierre Fayet studied at the École normale supérieure, worked from 1977 to 1979 at Caltech, then at CERN. Currently research director at the CNRS, he works at the Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de l'ENS (LPTENS). He has been a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences since 1997.
Mainly known for his work in supersymmetry, he introduced the idea of supersymmetric partners (photino for photon, gluino for gluon, etc.).
He also introduced with Jean Iliopoulos a mechanism for spontaneous breakage of supersymmetry called the Fayet-Iliopoulos mechanism