See also: Biographies and Wikipedia CERN people.

• AMALDI, Edoardo, Secretary-General (1952-1954)
• BLOCH, Felix (October 1954 - August 1955)
• BAKKER, Cornelis (September 1955 - April 1960)
• ADAMS, John, Acting Director-General (May 1960 - July 1961)
• WEISSKOPF, Victor Frederik (August 1961 - December 1965)
• GREGORY, Bernard (January 1966 - December 1970)
• JENTSCHKE, Willibald, Director-General for CERN Laboratory I (January 1971 - December 1975)
• ADAMS, John, Director-General for CERN Laboratory II (January 1971 - December 1975)
• ADAMS, John, Executive Director-General (January 1976 - December 1980)
• VAN HOVE, Léon, Director-General for Research (January 1976 - December 1980)
• SCHOPPER, Herwig (January 1981 - December 1988)
• RUBBIA, Carlo (January 1989 - December 1993)
• LLEWELLYN SMITH, Christopher (January 1994 - to December 1998)
• MAIANI, Luciano (January 1999 - December 2003)
• AYMAR, Robert (January 2004 - December 2008)
• HEUER, Rolf Dieter (January 2009 - December 2015)
• GIANOTTI, Fabiola (January 2016 - December 2025)
• THOMSON Mark (January 2026 - to date)