François Tavenas, OQ (12 September 1942 – 13 February 2004) was a Canadian engineer and academic.
Born in Bourg-de-Péage, Drôme, France, he received an engineering degree in civil engineering from Institut national des sciences appliquées de Lyon in 1963 and a doctorate with specialization in soil mechanics in 1965 from the Université de Grenoble.
In 1968, he moved to Canada to become a lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at Université Laval.
As well, he was a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics.
In 1997, he was appointed the rector of Université Laval and a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and in 2003 left to become the founding rector of the Université du Luxembourg.