The creation of IRIA in 1967, was a desire to develop an institute that was close to industry and capable of educating the country in the fields of computer science and control. In 1979, decentralisation threatened IRIA’s existence: there was talk of relocation to Sophia Antipolis or a merger with IRISA in Rennes (which had been created with IRIA’s help in 1975). Eventually, Jacques-Louis Lions was able to keep the institute at Rocquencourt, and an ‘N’ was added to its name. In accordance with the Decree of 27 December 1979, the institute would henceforth be known as Inria (Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique).
