Pierre Thénard is a diplomat and a researcher.

He is currently the Director of the College of Advanced Studies of the Diplomatic Institute of the Europe and Foreign Affairs Ministry in France. 

He began his career as a teacher at El-Azhar University, before being appointed Assistant Professor at Cairo University (1980-1987). He then became Cultural Advisor in Jerusalem (1987-1989). Upon leaving the ENA in 1993, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hold various positions in France (Ministry and Institute of the Arab World) and abroad (Algeria, United States, Morocco). He was the Director of International Relations at ENA from 2013 to 2019 and teached Master's degree at Sciences-Po Paris.

He is the author of numerous articles on American politics in North Africa and the Middle East.

He graduated from the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ULM), the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations of Paris (classical Arabic) and holds an Aggregation of History.