During 1848, Hermite returned to the École Polytechnique as répétiteur and examinateur d'admission. During 1856 he contracted smallpox. Through the influence of Augustin-Louis Cauchy and of a nun who nursed him, he resumed the practice of his Catholic faith. On 14 July, of that year, he was elected for the vacancy created by the death of Jacques Binet in the Académie des Sciences. During 1869, he succeeded Jean-Marie Duhamel as professor of mathematics, both at the École Polytechnique, where he remained until 1876, and in the Faculty of Sciences of Paris, which was a post he occupied until his death. From 1862 to 1873 he was lecturer at the École Normale Supérieure. Upon his seventieth birthday, on the occasion of his Jubilee which was celebrated at the Sorbonne under the auspices of an international committee, he was promoted grand officer of the Légion d'honneur. He died in Paris, 14 January 1901, aged 78.