A graduate of the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris with a doctorate in sociology, she is also editor of the journal Archives des sciences sociales de la religion.

She was a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) from 1974 to 1993.[1]

As president of the École des hautes Études en sciences sociales (EHESS) from March 2004 to March 2009, she undertook significant changes in the institution, particularly lowering the level of students before admission to the Master to abandon school diploma for the benefit of aligning the university system of LMD. She has also initiated a relocation of the school outside Paris, in Seine-Saint-Denis, to integrate it into a new academic center for education, now called "Campus Condorcet", whose composition is constantly changing.

In late 2008, Hervieu-LÉger was appointed by the Minister of Research, ValÉrie PÉcresse, Chair of the Steering Committee for developing the national strategy of research and innovation,[2] and resigned in 2009.[3]

Among her awards, she received the CNRS Silver medal in 2001, was named Knight of the Ordre National de la LÉgion d'Honneur and Officer of the National Order of Merit and the Academic Palms.[1]

She wrote a number of books and articles, notably on the Catholic Church[4][5] and on cults.[6][7]