Jacques Revel studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Sorbonne. He was an assistant professor at the Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines de l'Université de Paris and member of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (1973-1977). Since 1978, he has taught at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, where he is directeur d'études (Professor). He served as President of the École from 1995 to 2004. He has taught at Berkeley, Michigan, Bielefeld and many other universities worldwide. He has been visiting professor at the Institute of French Studies at the University of New York since its inception in 1978.  His main research focuses on two areas of study: historiography and social and cultural history of early modern Europe (ss XVI to XIX.).