Between 1966 and 1970 he studied at École normale supérieure in Paris, and in 1973 he obtained a PhD from Pierre and Marie Curie University, under the supervision of Jacques Dixmier.

[5] In 1976 he returned to France and worked as professor at Pierre and Marie Curie University until 1980 and at CNRS between 1981 and 1984.

[11] In his early work on von Neumann algebras in the 1970s, he succeeded in obtaining the almost complete classification of injective factors.

He also introduced cyclic cohomology in the early 1980s as a first step in the study of noncommutative differential geometry.

[42] In 2001 he received (together with his co-authors André Lichnerowicz and Marco Schutzenberger) the Peano Prize for his work Triangle of Thoughts.

[43] Alain Connes is the middle-born of three sons — born to parents both of whom lived to be 101 years old.