A former head of the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Le Havre Normandy in France, Stéphane became interested in matters of recognition of prior learning (RPL) as the director of the Lifelong Learning Centre of the University. He actively promoted RPL in European circles. He became the director of University Institute of Technology (IUT) Le Havre in 2010 and served several terms as Vice-President in charge of international relations for the Assembly of Directors of IUTs, which represents all 108 French IUTs and 180,000 students. He became involved in quality assurance, first establishing QA in his own institution, then at national level. He was asked to chair several institutional reviews in Europe and Africa, thereby learning a lot on the international issues of QA.

He joined the board of EURASHE, the institution that represents universities of applied sciences in Europe and became its president in 2015. He actively promoted the role of the applied sciences in Europe as a provider of competences for students and stakeholders alike, and stressed its relevance to present-time issues through better teaching and excellent research and was involved in the reflexion that led to the 2015 revision of the ESGs.

He has been the president of EQAR since July 2023, in which position he has actively promoted the Register and DEQAR, its digital repository that brings the results of evaluation to every citizen. Stéphane sees EQAR as an excellent means of bringing transparency and trust to higher education in Europe. He views Quality Assurance as the best way to promote institutional autonomy while improving the effectiveness of higher Education institutions. He knows a lot must still be done to achieve global quality and the only way to succeed is through dialogue and mutual understanding.