He was serving as the Director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d'études politiques de Paris or Sciences Po Paris),[2][3] and as such as the Chief Administrator of the National Foundation of Political Science (Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, FNSP).

Descoings was born in Paris, where he graduated from the Institut d'études politiques (Sciences Po) in 1980, and subsequently studied at the École nationale d'administration from 1983 to 1985.

From 1985 to 1989, he worked as an auditor in the legal section of the Conseil d'État and, in 1987, was appointed special advisor to Alain Lancelot, Director of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris.

He was also awarded Commander of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco[2] and an honorary doctorates from Waseda University, Japan.

[5] On 3 April 2012, he was found dead in a Manhattan luxury hotel room.