President's Address 2021 - Universities at a crossroads - Imperial College London
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President's Address 2021 Universities at a crossroads
Welcome to the
President’s Address 2021.
In this extraordinary time after enduring such a profoundly
sad and painful year, it is more important than ever to
celebrate the great accomplishments that make us all proud
of our community. Six years ago we started the tradition of
using the President’s Address as an opportunity to gather
to pay tribute to our staff, students and alumni who have
received external awards over the past year. While we cannot
gather in person, we can still be buoyed by the wonderful
people and the accolades they have so greatly deserved.
Our colleagues inspire us with their devotion to excellence,
Professor Alice P. Gast their dedication to helping others and their support of
President of Imperial College London
our community. Their efforts evoke pride by their families,
their friends, their colleagues and to the College.
You will see brief descriptions of their achievements in
this programme. As you read it, I think that you will be as
impressed as I am by the many ways they have used their
time and talents for the benefit of society.
Please join me in congratulating these brilliant colleagues.
Their actions embody the excellence, values and societal
impact Imperial College London is known for. We look forward
to the opportunity to celebrate in person in the future.
I also thank all members of the Imperial community who
contribute in numerous ways in their professional and
personal lives to make the world a better place.
Universities
at a crossroads
Professor Alice P. Gast,
President of Imperial College London
2 June 2021
The President’s Address
Each year the President delivers her annual Address to the College
community and invited guests, and we celebrate external accolades
bestowed on Imperial staff, students and alumni. In light of the continuing
COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s address was broadcast digitally.
Some years ago, in a crowded steamy hotpot restaurant
in Shanghai, I watched the young people around us take
pictures of their meal and receive gratifying pings as
friends “liked” what they saw.
I reflected on the practice of giving thanks before a meal. Yet amidst the loss and sadness there are also things that
Perhaps now, for some, God is in the Cloud awaiting our lifted our spirits and for which we are thankful. The incredible
adoring photos of what we eat! efforts of people across the country and throughout the world
I found myself amused by this idea until I realised that if inspire our gratitude. The response to the pandemic by the
I went on a run without my phone to “log” my workout, I felt scientific community, including our own, alongside the tireless
it didn’t count. Clearly my coach in the Cloud needed to see efforts by the NHS deserve repeated recognition.
evidence of my movement for it to be real. Maybe I too was
reliant on approbation from a phone. It has been an unprecedented year with tremendous innovation.
So many of you helped others to find new ways to learn, new
During the past year we have been blessed, and cursed, ways to teach, new ways to pursue research, new ways to care
by spending vast amounts of time online, working, connecting, for our students, and new ways to keep the university running.
documenting. Our screen time has increased dramatically. And it is running well. You have written more papers and more
We know this from those unwelcome reports of the hours we proposals than in years past. You have gotten a lot done.
have stared at our computers, phones and tablets. You’ve worked from home and at the front lines.
We’ve connected with friends and colleagues far and wide. We can be proud of the accomplishments we made in the
We’ve Zoomed, FaceTimed, and reached into homes of family face of daunting challenges.
members we long to see, friends we have wanted to get back
in touch with, colleagues who are hard to see in person at any Today, as is our tradition, we celebrate the external accolades
time but are easy to find pinned to their computer. earned by our colleagues. There is much to celebrate despite
Our reliance on technology has been growing for years, the many hardships of the past year.
but it has accelerated during the pandemic. Things will never
be the same again.
It has been a profoundly sad, exhausting and trying year.
Our hearts go out to those who have suffered the tragic effects
of the pandemic. Both physically and mentally, COVID-19 has
taken its toll on all of us.
1
This has been an extraordinary period of rapid change for ability but lack the economic capacity, confidence, or support We already have wonderful examples of generous donors
universities like ours and there are many competitive challenges systems they need to attend university. The Wohl Reach Out making a difference around the world. Scholarships from the
ahead. Here are three: Lab, the Invention Rooms, maths homework clubs, edX Courses Amjad & Suha Bseisu Foundation provide pivotal support to
for Maths and Further Maths A-levels and our new maths school students from the Levant and Malaysia, and the Lee family has
1. We have educated the next generation of scholars who will all help students succeed in their path to, and through, supported vital scholarships for students across the College.
are able to teach in new or expanded universities in their university. Yet we need to do more within our university as well. We are also privileged to be among the universities
home countries, in English if desired. hosting the Beacon Scholarship, a leadership development
I am announcing a £10 million challenge fund to ignite support programme that nurtures ‘change-makers’ among young,
2. Technology can bring learning to where you are; the need for scholarships and fellowships over the next five years. gifted students with leadership potential from Kenya, Uganda,
to spend the time in a residential university may become Tanzania and Zambia.
less compelling than in the past. Half of this, £5 million, will support prestigious scholarships The government clearly has a role to play. Our newly
and fellowships for talented underrepresented students. awarded British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM,
3. We are in a period of competing national interests that This will include black students, other underrepresented are bringing women from South America into some of our
favours nationalism over globalism. students and students whose socioeconomic backgrounds MRes and MSc programmes, and we welcome many outstanding
are barriers to university attendance. Chevening and Commonwealth scholars every year.
We know that we cannot simply return to the way we were We know that by providing this support, supplemented by We are grateful for this support and we call upon the
before. I firmly believe that there will still be a strong need philanthropic donations, we can improve our recruitment and government to expand such efforts to help us diversify
for the very best education with the top scholars in the world. retention of students we historically have not attracted. our community.
We can prevail if we can change.
Universities are at a crossroads and only by remaining open Many of our friends and alumni are eager to help. I invite
to new people, new technological innovations and new ideas them to use this moment to join with us to make a difference. 2. Technology has changed education;
will we succeed. We have seen the power of their support. One example is the
generous donation from the Olanrewaju brothers to support
we need to change too.
scholarships for black undergraduate students of exceptional I may have found my best French teacher ever. It’s a machine-
What is our opportunity at Imperial? academic merit in Engineering and a gift to begin establishing learning algorithm that sees where my weaknesses and
a new endowed scholarship. strengths are and dishes up new lessons every day. I loved
We have a lot going for us at Imperial and we can build The other £5 million of the challenge fund will provide my French teachers at Princeton, but now I’m learning a lot
upon our strengths: matching funds to support scholarships and fellowships for from a machine.
international students. We have many generous alumni and While we have reaped some of the benefits of the data
We have top talent in science, engineering, medicine friends around the world who wish to help students from their revolution in our research, we are just beginning to realise
and business home country to attend Imperial. Often, they can support its effects on our teaching. The pandemic, and our rapid move
Professor Sanjeev Gupta is among the Imperial academics assisting the NASA
Perseverance mission on Mars. Professor Gupta is helping oversee mission
We know how to work together across these disciplines part of the cost of an international fellowship or scholarship. to remote, online and “multi-mode” education have given us
operations from a science and engineering point of view, helping decide where This matching funding will allow us to accept these donations a taste of our ability to enrich the educational experience for
the rover will go and what it will sample. We pursue world leading discovery research and support talented students from around the world. our students.
We collaborate better than most
Universities are at a crossroads
We have exercised our use of technology in education
The history of universities is long and rich. Most were founded We have people in our community eager to think broadly
to “create a community of scholars” who could share their
insights and discoveries, and to “create an educated workforce We have opportunities in our estate and our spaces
or society”. to do things differently
In recent times these founding principles have been
influenced by two accelerating driving forces: enhanced We must build upon these strengths by having audacious goals
technological capability and vastly easier international mobility. and facing the realities of our strengths and weaknesses – what
New technologies affect just about everything we do today, the organizational guru Jim Collins calls ‘facing the brutal facts’.
and they have enhanced scientific discovery. Just a few decades
ago, we could not have imagined our ability to sequence Here are four brutal facts and audacious goals and investments
mutations in a virus with such speed, to see the Higgs-Boson, to help us face them:
to visualise single molecules, or to drive around on the
surface of Mars. Science has been hugely accelerated by
new computing, imaging and sequencing abilities. And the 1. Our talented community lacks diversity
acceleration continues with the further expansion of data
storage and computational power. Like other universities, we are missing contributions from large
The dramatic increase in international mobility has been segments of the population. We must diversify our community,
the other dominant driving force influencing universities. at all levels, from students to Council members. We must be
The marketplace of ideas and learning creates opportunities more ethnically diverse, gender balanced, and internationally
for people from around the world. The value-added of English diverse. Increasing diversity will strengthen and enrich our
language education has propelled the US and the UK to the community. It will make us more competitive.
forefront of global higher education. Students from around We must start with our students. I am proud of our work to
The Olanrewaju brothers, founders of the Lara & Biodun Olanrewaju Scholarship, join Imperial to celebrate the achievements of black students
the world aspire to study here. improve opportunities for students who have the intellectual and professionals as part of Black History Month 2019.
2 3
enable us, over five years, to enhance our estate for the benefit
of student and staff collaboration. Little did we know how
much our needs would change! As we find new ways of working,
we focus on how to make the most of our precious time together
while using technology to enable us to be efficient and effective.
We will use spaces differently.
I think that we have a lot to bring to this dialogue across
sectors. After all, we have experience with the “flipped
classroom” where lectures and other materials are available
online and the valuable face-to-face time is used for discussion,
practical learning and delving deeply into topics best imparted
person-to-person. As we adopt new modes of working post-
pandemic, I think we should address the “flipped workplace”.
Which things do we do best together, in person, and how can
we use our spaces to help us do those? Which things we
can do remotely, saving commuting time, energy, and stress?
And which things should no longer be done?
These are important questions we need the entire community
to consider and help answer. These require collaborative
discussion within and across departments, optimisation of
scheduling, and sharing and effective use of space. I hope
that the Community Fund will help, in a small way, make some
spaces on campus conducive to changes we will need to make.
4. We collaborate more freely in research
than in teaching
In my 2019 Address I said: “Collaboration is important not
Imperial researchers created the Saturday Science Club to inspire children in the White City community and support further learning outside of school. Held at the
Invention Rooms at White City Campus, the sessions are a mix of family-friendly workshops and interactive activities. only across disciplines, but also across cultures. It brings new
insights, leads to new approaches and to new discoveries.”
The pandemic has shown us how we can collaborate even
more effectively than ever. This is very true of research and we
We must seize the opportunity to build upon what we have to teach our students how to learn, and to instil in them a love only need look at some of the great accomplishments of the
done by integrating the innovations we have made with the best of learning. past year.
of our traditional modes of education. We must remain alert Now is the time to begin thinking clearly about our role The rapid pivot to COVID-19 research brought out the best
to opportunities for further innovation. The best and brightest in the education of people at all ages, on our campuses and in local and international collaboration. A critically important
students will not accept an education fashioned around dull throughout the world. This means defining our role in providing collaboration, ISARIC4C (Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation
lectures in a crowded auditorium. educational opportunities to adults, young people and the Consortium) brought scientists from around the UK together to
Education is a two-way street; students learn from scholars broader public. There is more to do. The increased complexity immediately link clinical data from across the NHS to answer
and from one another while scholars learn from their students. of the societal issues we face makes an educated citizenry more urgent questions.
We need to recapture this spirit while also seizing the important than ever. Similarly, a group of Imperial academics from Life Sciences,
opportunities that technology brings. Universities easily get mired in pedagogical treacle unable to Medicine and Bioengineering are building upon years of
I was struck by conversations I have had with colleagues agree to change any course, setting up committees, launching collaboration to develop the Digital Diagnostics for Africa
teaching the “conversion masters” for AI and Machine Learning. reviews to ratify the status quo. Network. This network brings together diverse scientists
They talk about how students come from all backgrounds – One thing that the pandemic taught us is that when we with diagnostic manufacturing companies and organisations
chemists from pharma, finance wizards from the City, engineers, have to, we can change. We can and must seize the opportunity working in African countries. Collaborating with academics from
even a barrister. They come in wanting to learn how to use AI to be different. the University of Ghana, the network is putting new disease
and Machine Learning in their field. They have the problems control tools and strategies into practice.
and want to learn how to solve them. The teachers and students The Department of Materials has recently begun a
learn from one another. It is an exhilarating course because new 3. We will need to use space differently collaboration with the Max Planck Institute in Dusseldorf,
ideas, and new areas of research and innovation emerge from with a £10 million grant to develop a world-first microscopy
the classroom discussions. Technology is an increasingly important asset in education. suite aimed at unravelling questions about the atomic nature
There is much that will be changing in who we teach and Does that mean that the residential education with top of materials. This project includes joint appointment of
(Above) Professor Frank Kelly, Battcock Chair in Community Health and Policy,
how we teach. Events on a virtual platform have broadened our scholars is outdated? I don’t think so. I believe that the time staff between our institutions, focused on materials for the heads Imperial’s Environmental Research Group, a leading provider of air quality
audience. We can share inaugural lectures, invited speeches, and distance between our newest scientific discoveries and energy transition. information and research in the UK; (Below) Imperial’s COVID-19 testing lab on
South Kensington Campus was established as part of Medcity’s London Testing
panels and everything with a wide variety of people. what we teach our students has shrunk. We are a community Such international collaboration can benefit education
Alliance. The Alliance serves to strengthen national testing capacity, covering
It will no longer be enough to focus on educating young of scholars eager to share the latest ideas. Where and how as well. Universities often collaborate more freely in research swab tests from the public, key workers and care home residents. The expanded
scholars aged 18–22. Learning should be a lifetime activity, we do that will matter. projects while rigidly guarding their pedagogy. If we open facility has created over thirty new positions, including the recruitment of
graduates from Imperial’s MSc in Molecular Biology and Pathology of Viruses.
and we have an important role in that. It is incumbent on us In 2019 I announced the £5 million Community Fund to our minds to it, we can collaborate just as fluidly in education
4 5
The Learning Studio in the Clinical Sciences Building at Lee Kong Chian School
of Medicine. Image courtesy of NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
as we do in research.
This year we celebrated the tenth anniversary of our
landmark collaboration with NTU to create LKCMedicine.
We have built a world-leading modern technology-based
medical education and talented doctors are coming from
the programme.
We are also working with international partners to find
new and innovative ways to teach. In one example, a group of
Dyson School of Design Engineering students and TU Munich
students use Augmented Reality headsets and Gravity Sketch
software to remotely collaborate on design engineering
innovation projects.
Our School of Public Health developed an online module
with the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Cameroon,
as part of their MSc in Mathematical Sciences.
The partnership with AIMS attracts students with new ideas,
who challenge assumptions and inject life into mathematics.
Imperial academics collaborate with partners there on how to
model challenges that African countries are facing.
These collaborations, and many more, make it clear that
our advocacy for international mobility is more important than
ever. The free flow of people and ideas is critical to fulfilling our
mission of research, education and innovation in the benefit
of society. We must not let rising geopolitical challenges and
seeds of separatism harm these important relationships.
In closing
We have just been through a shattering experience with
unprecedented loss of life, deep psychological trauma and
uncertainty looming ahead. We are all exhausted from work,
worry, lack of rest and lack of human interaction. These are
very challenging and stressful times.
They are also exciting times. Huge changes were thrust upon us
and these experiences can serve as a catalyst for meaningful
long-term change.
Universities are at a crossroads.
As we define our audacious goals and face our brutal facts,
as we diversify our community,
as we sustain our collaborations,
as we continue to innovate our education,
and as we explore new ways of working,
I know that we will be leaders defining the way forward.
Thank you
Professor Alice P. Gast
2 June 2021
6 7
Dr Deesha Chadha, Senior Strategic Teaching Fellow,
Department of Chemical Engineering was awarded an
OBE for services to faith communities
External awards
and accolades
Amir Afshar Dr Francesco Aprile Dr David Ayuso Dr Heather Battey Dr Florian Bouville Professor Andrew Bush
Visiting Researcher, Department of Chemistry Future Leaders Fellow, Royal Society University Research Fellow, Lecturer in Statistics, Department of Mathematics Lecturer in Ceramics, Department of Materials Professor of Paediatrics and Paediatric
Joint winner of the 2020 Venture Catalyst Department of Chemistry Department of Physics Awarded an Early Career Fellowship from Awarded a European Research Council Respirology; Director, Imperial Centre
Challenge for their initiative The Shellworks, Awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship Awarded a Royal Society University the Engineering and Physical Sciences Starting Grant for Paediatrics and Child Health,
which turns waste crustacean shells into from UK Research and Innovation Research Fellowship Research Council National Heart and Lung Institute
biodegradable, compostable products which Dr Jochen Brandt Received the European Respiratory Society
can be used as an alternative to plastic Dr Martin Archer Professor Barbara Bain Kevin John Baughan Royal Society University Research Fellow, Congress Chair Award in recognition of his
Stephen Hawking Fellow, Department of Physics Professor of Diagnostic Haematology, MBA 2005 Department of Chemistry contribution to research and training in
Dr Azeem Alam Awarded the Stephen Hawking Fellowship Department of Immunology and Inflammation OBE for services to innovation and skills Awarded a Royal Society University respiratory medicine
Medicine 2015 from UK Research and Innovation AM for significant services to medical education, development Research Fellowship
BEM for services to medical education particularly haematology Professor James David Forbes Calder
during COVID-19 Sheridan Ash Louise Olivia Beaton Richard Brooks Professor of Bioengineering,
MBA 2002 Geoffrey Francis Maitland Ball Wye College 1978 Research Postgraduate, Department of Bioengineering
Dr Xavier Alauze MBE for services to women and girls Aeronautics 1971 OBE for voluntary service to rural communities Department of Mechanical Engineering OBE for services to sport and exercise
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow, through technology MBE for services to the community in Ellesmere Part of the winning team on University
Department of Physics Port, Cheshire during COVID-19 Dr Mario Berta Challenge 2020 Dr Ana Caraiani
Awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Dr Elisabetta Aurino Senior Lecturer, Department of Computing Royal Society University Research Fellow (Reader),
Individual Fellowship Research Fellow, Department of Economics and Dr Anna Barnard Awarded a European Research Council Dr Anna Victoria Brown Department of Mathematics
Public Policy and Centre for Health Economics Research Fellow (Sir Henry Dale Fellowship), Starting Grant PhD Environmental Biology 2001 Winner of a European Mathematical Society Prize
Dr Juan Alvaro Gallego and Policy Innovation Department of Chemistry MBE for services to forest pathology
Lecturer, Department of Bioengineering Awarded a British Academy grant and a UK Awarded a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship Brandon Blackwell Dr Tanai Cardona
Awarded a European Research Council Research and Innovation grant to explore Taught Masters Student, Dr Gillian Rosemary Tilden Bullock Future Leaders Fellow, Department of Life Sciences
Starting Grant the long-term effects of investment in early Professor Peter Barnes Department of Computing Botany and Plant Technology 1978, MSc 1961, Awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship
childhood education in Ghana Senior Research Investigator, Part of the winning team on University DIC 1964 from UK Research and Innovation to lead
Professor Jane Apperley National Heart and Lung Institute Challenge 2020 BEM for services to families in rural Kenya the new Molecular Evolution Lab at Imperial
Chair of the Centre of Haematology, Dr Daren James Austin Elected an honorary fellow of the British
Department of Immunology and Inflammation PhD Physics 1992 Pharmacological Society and awarded Professor Patrick Bolton Dr Aaron Bundock Dr Deesha Chadha
Awarded the 2020 International Chronic Myeloid OBE for services to emergency response the Trudeau Medal for respiratory health Professor in Finance and Economics, Academic Visitor, Department of Physics Senior Strategic Teaching Fellow,
Leukemia Foundation Goldman Prize; delivered during COVID-19 Department of Finance Winner of the CMS Experiment Achievement Award Department of Chemical Engineering
the 2021 Pierre Strijckmans Memorial Lecture Dr Jo Barstow Awarded a grant of €1.74 million by the OBE for services to faith communities
for the Belgian Society of Hematology Awarded an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship European Research Council to investigate the
and will be joining Imperial to study exoplanets social and environmental impact of business
8 9
Professor Peter Childs Professor Allister Ian Ferguson Dr Soranyel Gonzalez Carrero Professor Timothy Hallett
Professor Andreas Eisingerich,
Chair and Leader in Engineering Design, Head of Department Analytics, MSc Physics 1975 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, Professor of Global Health,
Dyson School of Design Engineering Marketing and Operations was CBE for services to science and to industry Department of Chemistry School of Public Health
Winner of the 2020 Queen’s Award for Innovation named among the world’s top Awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Elected a Fellow of the Academy
for the Q-Bot 40 business academics under Dr Soheyla Feyzbakhsh of Medical Sciences
the age of 40 in Poets&Quants’ EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Stephanie Greed
Professor Fan Chung annual “Top 40 Under 40” Department of Mathematics Research Postgraduate, Department of Chemistry Dr Stephen Hansen
Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Awarded the Industry Prize at the Royal Society of Associate Professor of Economics,
National Heart and Lung Institute the Engineering and Physical Sciences Chemistry’s Organic Division poster symposium Imperial College Business School
Selected as Emeritus Senior Investigator Research Council Awarded a €1,648,551 European Research Council
for the National Institute for Health Research Professor Emile S. Greenhalgh Consolidator Grant for a length of five years
Dr Seth Flaxman Professor of Composite Materials,
Dr Nicholas Keith Coni Senior Lecturer in Statistical Machine Learning, Department of Aeronautics Professor Martin Heeney
Westminster Hospital Medical School 1961 Department of Mathematics Appointed as Chair in Emerging Technologies Professor of Organic Materials,
OBE for services to education for older people Named a Samsung AI Researcher of the by the Royal Academy of Engineering Department of Chemistry
Year; awarded an Early Career Fellowship Awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s
Dr Evelyn Jane Corner from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Professor Emeritus William Griffith Peter Day Award for pioneering contributions
PhD Surgery and Cancer 2017 Research Council Distinguished Research Fellow, to solution processed organic semiconductors;
MBE for services to Health Education during Department of Chemistry recipient of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s UK
COVID-19 Richard Forsyth Awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Award, Macro Medal
Chemical Engineering & Chemical through its Historical Group, for Exceptional
Professor Paul Anthony Cosford Technology 2002 Service for proactively and inclusively supporting Professor Dame Julia Higgins
St Mary’s Hospital Medical School 1987 OBE for services to the distillation and oil and colleagues and the wider scientific community, Senior Research Investigator,
Knighted for services to public health gas industries and the community in Speyside, advising on activities celebrating the history of Department of Chemical Engineering
Scottish Highlands the chemical sciences Awarded the 2020 Sam Edwards Medal and Prize
Daniel James Cowen for pioneering work in neutron scattering applied
MEng Aeronauticsg 2013 Professor Matthew Fuchter Professor Sir Martin Hairer to the understanding of polymer structure and
MBE for services to British foreign policy Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry Chair in Probability and Stochastic Analysis, dynamics; awarded the 2020 Sir Frank Whittle
Finalist in the 2020 Blavatnik Awards for Young Department of Mathematics Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering for
Professor Martin Cowie Scientists in the UK Winner of the 2021 Breakthrough Prize outstanding engineering achievement; awarded
Chair in Cardiology (Health Services Research), Professor Jane Davies Dr Claire Edmondson in Mathematics an Honorary Doctor of Science for promoting
National Heart and Lung Institute Professor of Paediatric Respirology and Clinical Research Fellow, Dr Emanuele Galiffi diversity and inclusion in science and technology
Received the Roy Award for his outstanding Experimental Medicine, National Heart National Heart and Lung Institute Research Associate (EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellow), Professor Geoffrey Hall by Concordia University, Montreal
contribution in the field of heart failure and Lung Institute Winner of the North American Cystic Fibrosis Department of Physics Professor of Physics, Department of Physics
Winner of the Student Paper Competition Awarded the James Chadwick Medal and Prize
Dr James Hindley
Selected as Senior Investigator by the National Conference Junior Investigator’s Best Abstract
Geraldine Cox Institute for Health Research in clinical research award at the Metamaterials’ 2020 International for his pioneering work in developing silicon Research Associate, Department of Chemistry
Academic Visitor, Department of Physics Conference; awarded a Doctoral Prize Fellowship detectors and front-end electronics for particle Awarded the Katharine Burr Blodgett PhD Award
Winner of the American Institute of Physics Professor Claudia de Rham Professor Andreas Eisingerich from the Engineering and Physical Sciences physics experiments, especially in crucial from the Society of Chemical Industry/Royal
Gemant Award for work combining art Professor of Theoretical Physics, Head of Department Analytics, Marketing Research Council radiation-hard applications, critical for the Society of Chemistry Joint Colloids Group
and science Department of Physics and Operations observation of the Higgs boson in 2012
Winner in the 2020 Blavatnik Awards for Young Named among the world’s top 40 business
Professor Leroy Gardner
Professor Richard Craster Scientists in the UK; awarded the Simons academics under the age of 40 in Poets&Quants’ Professor of Structural Engineering, Department
Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences Foundation Investigator in Physics annual “Top 40 Under 40” of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor Dame Julia Higgins,
Elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society Elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy
Senior Research Investigator,
Professor Sir Simon Donaldson Professor Paul Elkington of Engineering Department of Chemical
Dr Mark Crimmin Chair in Pure Mathematics, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Department of Engineering, was awarded the
Reader in Organometallic Chemistry, Department of Mathematics Infectious Disease and Professor of Respiratory Dr Nicola Gasparini 2020 Sam Edwards Medal and
Department of Chemistry Joint winner of the 2020 Wolf Prize Medicine, University of Southampton Research Fellow, Department of Chemistry Prize for pioneering work
Winner of the Chemistry of Transition Metals in Mathematics MBE for services to medicine particularly Named a World Economic Forum Young Scientist in neutron scattering applied
to the understanding of polymer
Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry for the during COVID-19
discovery of an unprecedented transition metal Professor Charles Donovan Professor Toby Gee structure and dynamics, and
Professor Carlton A. Evans also received the 2020 Sir
complex with a hexagonal planar geometry Professor of Practice; Executive Director, Professor of Pure Mathematics,
Frank Whittle Medal of the
Centre for Climate Finance and Investment, Professor of Global Health, Department of Mathematics
Royal Academy of Engineering
Dr Cláudia Custódio Department of Finance Department of Infectious Disease Awarded a European Research Council for outstanding engineering
Associate Professor of Finance, Winner in the 2019 Finance for the Future Awards MBE for services to global health Advanced Grant achievement; awarded an
Department of Finance for the Centre for Climate Finance and Investment Honorary Doctor of Science for
Awarded a grant from the European Research and its MSc Climate Change, Management & Dr James Ewen Ali Ghorbangholi promoting diversity and inclusion
Finance programme RAEng Research Fellow, Electrical & Electronic Engineering 2012, in science and technology by
Council to measure the economic effects
MSc Computing 2013 Concordia University, Montreal
of relaxing financial constraints Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr Nicholas Dover Awarded a Research Fellowship from OBE for services to volunteering during the
Professor Adnan Custovic Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow, the Royal Academy of Engineering COVID-19 response
Professor of Paediatric Allergy, Department of Physics
National Heart and Lung Institute Awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Professor Dario Farina Professor Vernon Gibson
Elected a Fellow of the Academy Individual Fellowship Chair in Neurorehabilitation Engineering, Visiting Professor, Department of Materials
of Medical Sciences Department of Bioengineering Awarded the Lord Lewis Prize from the Royal
Dr Patrick Dunne Awarded a £5.5 million grant from the UKRI/ Society of Chemistry for seminal contributions
Future Leaders Fellow, Department of Physics EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technologies to fundamental and applied inorganic
Awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship from UK competition chemistry, and for critical work in policy
Research and Innovation setting at the interface of academia with
industry and government
10 Awarded the James Chadwick Medal and Prize for his pioneering work in developing silicon 11
detectors and front-end electronics for particle physics experiments
Dr Timothy Boon Leong Ho Professor Sebastian Johnston Dr Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro Professor Stefan Maier
PhD Investigative Science 2002 Asthma UK Clinical Chair, Lecturer, Department of Bioengineering Lee-Lucas Chair in Experimental Physics,
MBE for services to the NHS during COVID-19 National Heart and Lung Institute Awarded a European Research Council Department of Physics
Winner of the European Respiratory Society’s Starting Grant Awarded the American Chemical Society
Professor Stephen Townley Holgate Gold Medal in Asthma; elected as a Fellow Nano Lectureship
Charing Cross Hospital Medical School 1971 of European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Dr David Lefevre
Knighted for services to Medical Research Immunology Director, EdTech Lab Dr Sarah Malik
Winner of multiple team awards at the QS Academic Visitor, Department of Physics
Mathew Holloway Edward Jones Reimagine Education Conference, which Awarded the Royal Society University
MSc DIC Innovation Design Engineering 2008 Taught Postgraduate, recognised the EdTech Lab’s part in the FOME Research Fellowship (renewal)
Winner of the 2020 Queen’s Award for Innovation Dyson School of Design Engineering Alliance, their hologram and Global Online MBA
for the Q-Bot Joint winner of the 2020 Venture Catalyst Professor Omar Matar
Challenge for their initiative The Shellworks, Professor Martin Liebeck Vice-Dean (Education), Faculty of Engineering,
Professor Oliver Howes which turns waste crustacean shells into Head of the Pure Mathematics Section, Department of Chemical Engineering
Visiting Professor, Institute of Clinical Sciences biodegradable, compostable products which Department of Mathematics Elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy
Elected a Fellow of the Academy can be used as an alternative to plastic Awarded the London Mathematical Society’s of Engineering
of Medical Sciences Pólya Prize
Chris Kalogroulis Professor Iain McCulloch
Professor George Jackson Undergraduate Student, Professor Nick Long Visiting Professor, Department of Chemistry
Professor of Chemical Physics, Dyson School of Design Engineering The Sir Edward Frankland BP Chair of Inorganic Awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s
Department of Chemical Engineering Winner of the 2020 GSK UK Young Engineer Chemistry, Department of Chemistry Interdisciplinary Prize for advances in the design,
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Year Awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s synthesis and innovative application of functional
Frankland Award for outstanding synthetic materials in optics, electronics and energy;
Insiya Jafferjee Dr Matthew Jamie Knight inorganic and organometallic chemistry elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; awarded
Richard Brooks, Brandon Blackwell Caleb Rich and Conor McMeel,
were the winning team of University Challenge 2020
Visiting Researcher, Department of Chemistry PG Cert Medicine 2014 and subsequent applications in catalysis, the 2020 Blaise Pascal Medal by the European
Joint winner of the 2020 Venture Catalyst MBE for services to the NHS particularly functional materials and biomedical imaging Academy of Sciences
Challenge for their initiative The Shellworks, during COVID-19
which turns waste crustacean shells into
Professor Sandro Macchietto Professor Sally Margaret McGregor Professor Ramana Nanda Dr Camille Petit
biodegradable, compostable products
Professor Sir Peter Knight Professor of Process Systems Engineering, St Mary’s Hospital Medical School 1961 Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance, Reader in Materials Engineering,
which can be used as an alternative to plastic Senior Research Investigator, Department of Chemical Engineering OBE for services to early childhood development Department of Finance Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Physics Elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy in developing countries Awarded a European Research Council Awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s
Swapnil Jagtap Awarded the Institution of Engineering of Engineering Consolidator Grant worth €1.6 million to study Barrer Award for innovative work on porous
Research Postgraduate, Department of Civil and Technology Fellowship Conor McMeel the financing frictions facing ‘high potential’ nanostructures for applications in the energy
and Environmental Engineering Vanessa Madu Research Postgraduate, Department of Computing entrepreneurs and small and medium sized and sustainability sectors
Named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Europe
Thomas Komoly Undergraduate Student, Part of the winning team on University enterprises (SMEs)
for his work on reducing the carbon impact MSc Mechanical Engineering 1965 Department of Mathematics Challenge 2020 Professor Simon James Trent Pollard
of aviation BEM for services to Holocaust education Winner of a Rare Rising Star award, which Clare Joanna Threlfall Normand Chemistry 1987, PhD Civil Engineering 1990
and awareness recognises the UK’s top ten black students Professor Graham Medley MSc Environmental Technology 1994 OBE for services to environmental risk
PhD Epidemiology 1987 OBE for services to brain tumour charities management
OBE for his services to the COVID-19 response
Professor Laura Professor Dame Carol Propper
Professor Neena Modi Jimena Noval Chair in Economics, Department of Economics
Swapnil Jagtap, Research Postgraduate,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor of Neonatal Medicine, Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour, and Public Policy
was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Europe for School of Public Health Department of Management and Entrepreneurship Awarded a damehood for her contribution
his work on reducing the carbon impact of aviation Elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Named among Top 40 business academics under to economics and public health
Sciences; elected to Council at the Academy the age of 40 in Poets&Quants’ annual “Top 40
of Medical Sciences Under 40” Sarabjit Singh Purewal
Electrical and Electronic Engineering 1976
Dr Asher Mullokandov Professor Peter Openshaw OBE for services to health and safety and
Research Associate, Department of Mathematics Senior Consul, Professor of Experimental to cyber security
Granted the Crick-Turing Biomedical Data Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute
Science Award Selected as Senior Investigator Dr Sofia Qvarfort
by the National Institute for Health Research Academic Visitor, Department of Physics
Professor Kevin Murphy Received a Doctoral Prize Fellowship from
Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Dr James Owen the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Lecturer in Exoplanet Physics (Royal Society Research Council
Reproduction Fellow), Department of Physics
Awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Awarded the Royal Astronomical Society’s Fowler Federica Raguseo
the Royal College of Physicians Award for work on the atmospheres of small Research Postgraduate, Department of Chemistry
exoplanets that orbit close to their star Awarded the Alfred Bader Prize
Dr Mirabelle Muuls for Organic Chemistry
Assistant Professor in Economics, Dr Asha Patel
Department of Economics and Public Policy Lecturer in Cell and Gene Therapy, National Heart Professor Tarun Ramadorai
Winner in the 2019 Finance for the Future Awards and Lung Institute Professor of Financial Economics,
for the Centre for Climate Finance and Investment Awarded the Elsie Widdowson Fellowship Department of Finance
and its MSc Climate Change, Management & to support research after maternity; Awarded a Winner of 2019 Wharton Research Data Services’
Finance programme Royal Society Research Grant to develop non-viral Best Paper award
vectors for RNA delivery
12 13
Dr Saravana Ramasamy Dr Philipp Thomas Professor Ansgar Walther Team awards
Professor Esther Rodriguez-Villegas
Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow, Professor in Low Power Electronics, Lecturer in Biomathematics, Assistant Professor of Finance,
Institute of Clinical Sciences Department of Electrical and Electronic Department of Mathematics Department of Finance
Imperial College Academic Health
Accepted onto the EMBO Young Engineering, was elected to the Fellowship Awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship from UK Winner of a 2019 Wharton Research Data
of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Science Centre
Investigator Programme Research and Innovation to develop the maths Services’ Best Paper award
for new models of living cells Academic Health Science Centre
Myrddin Rees Professor Robert Wilkinson Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre
Consultant General and Hepatobiliary Surgeon, Professor Richard Thomas Professor in Infectious Disease, has secured its status for a further five years by
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Royal Society Research Professor (Pure Department of Infectious Disease demonstrating excellence in research, health
OBE for services to liver cancer surgery Mathematics), Department of Mathematics Awarded The Union Scientific Prize for work education and patient care
Awarded a Royal Society Research Professorship investigating Tuberculosis
Caleb Rich Imperial College Business School
Research Postgraduate, Department of Physics Professor Emma Thomson Professor Daryl Williams MBA Programme
PhD Medicine 2010 Professor of Particle Science, Business School
Part of the winning team on University
Challenge 2020 OBE for services to the NHS during Department of Chemical Engineering The Global Online MBA has been named number
the COVID-19 response Winner of the 2020 Chemistry World Entrepreneur one in the UK for online learning for the third
Professor Esther Rodriguez-Villegas of the Year by the Royal Society of Chemistry for consecutive year
Professor in Low Power Electronics, Department of Regius Professor Chris Toumazou the pioneering invention of the Dynamic Vapour
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Winston Wong Chair, Biomedical Circuits,
Estates Operations
Sorption instrument
Department of Electrical and Electronic Support Services
Elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy
of Engineering Engineering Professor Charlotte Williams Awarded a Partner Longevity Milestone Award
Awarded a President’s Special Award for Visiting Professor, Department of Chemistry from the Considerate Constructors Scheme,
Dr Sarah Rouse Pandemic Service by the Royal Academy of OBE for services to chemistry to recognise five years of collaboration
Future Leaders Fellow, Engineering for his lab-free COVID-19 tests and best practice
Department of Life Sciences that deliver results in under 90 minutes Professor Mark Howard Wilson
Consultant Neurosurgeon,
Early Years Education Centre Team
Awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship from UK
Research and Innovation to tackle new and Professor Roberto Trotta Department of Surgery and Cancer Early Years Education Centre
unexplored questions about mitochondrial lipid Professor of Astrostatistics, Department of Physics OBE for services to charity and the Achieved the grade of Outstanding from Ofsted
signalling pathways that are critical in ageing Awarded the Royal Astronomical Society’s Annie COVID-19 response
Jeremy Lewis Simons Professor Richard Syms
and age-related disorders Maunder Medal 2020 for his work promoting
MSc Management Science 1980 Professor of Microsystems Technology,
public understanding of cosmology and Fan Yan
Dr Timothy Runcorn OBE for services to air quality Department of Electrical and Electronic
astrophysics Research Postgraduate, Department of Physics
RAEng Research Fellow, Department of Physics and to environmental conservation in London Engineering
Recipient of a Chinese Government Award for
Awarded a Research Fellowship from the Royal Awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Faisal Tuddy Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad,
Anthony John Spiro the Royal College of Physicians BSc Physics 1993
Academy of Engineering the highest accolade given to graduate students
Metallurgy 1968, MSc 1970
BEM for services to the pharmaceutical sector studying outside China
Professor John Roy Sambles OBE for voluntary service to Holocaust Dr Jo Szram
during COVID-19
Physics 1967, PhD 1970 remembrance Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer,
Knighted for services to scientific research
National Heart and Lung Institute Dr Paul Turner
Dr Julia Stawarz Elected fellow of Royal College of Physicians Reader in Paediatric Allergy and Clinical
and outreach
Royal Society University Research Fellow, London Linacre Immunology, National Heart and Lung Institute
Dr Gurjinder Singh Sandhu Department of Physics
Awarded the 2020 European Academy of Allergy
Received the Winton Award from the Royal Martin John Griffin Tapp
PG Dip Investigative Science 2009 & Clinical Immunology PhARF Award
Astronomical Society for her work on space Wye College 1961
MBE for services to the NHS during COVID-19
plasma physics; awarded the Royal Society BEM for services to flood risk management in Kent Dr Cynthia Vidal
Dr Salvatore Santamaria University Research Fellowship Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow,
Professor Ed Tate Department of Physics
Research Fellow, Department of Immunology
Professor Kellogg Stelle Professor of Chemical Biology,
and Inflammation Awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie
Professor of Physics, Department of Physics Department of Chemistry
Awarded the British Society for Matrix Biology’s Individual Fellowship
2019 Young Investigator Award Awarded the John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh Awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Corday-
Medal and Prize for his seminal contributions Morgan Prize for contributions to the discovery Professor Sir Tejinder
Dr Sandra Scott to fundamental physics of novel chemical probes and their application (Jim) Virdee
Research Nurse, National Heart and Lung Institute in opening up new understanding of protein Professor of Physics, Department of Physics
Professor Molly Stevens modification in living systems leading to the
Awarded the Outstanding Individual Achievement Awarded the 2020 Blaise Pascal Medal for
Professor of Biomedical Materials and validation of novel drug targets in cancer and
Award by the Clinical Research Network Physics by the European Academy of Sciences
Regenerative Medicine, Department of Materials infectious disease
North West London (National Institute for
Health Research) Winner of the Federation of European Dr Abigail Waldron
Biochemical Societies/EMBO Women in Science Andy Tay Kah Ping
Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow,
Professor Nilay Shah Award in recognition of her outstanding scientific Research Fellow, Department of Bioengineering Department of Physics
Head of Department, achievements; elected a Fellow of the Royal Named a World Economic Forum Young Scientist Awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie
Department of Chemical Engineering Society Individual Fellowship
Professor Richard Templer
OBE for services to the decarbonisation Professor Ileana Stigliani
of the UK economy
Director of Innovation at the Grantham Institute, Steve Walker
Associate Professor of Design and Innovation, Department of Chemistry Fire Safety Adviser, Estates Operations
Professor Raad Shakir Department of Management and Entrepreneurship Awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts Elected as Chairperson of the Universities Safety
Visiting Professor of Neurology, Winner of the 2018 Journal of Management & Health Association (USHA) Fire Safety Group,
Studies Best Paper Award Winsome May Thomas
Department of Brain Sciences London Region
Matron for Quality and BAME Nurses and
CBE for services to global neurology
Midwives Network Chair, Imperial College
Healthcare NHS Trust
BEM for services to nursing during COVID-19
14 15Office of the President Level 4 Faculty Building Imperial College London South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ +44 (0)20 7594 5001 president@imperial.ac.uk www.imperial.ac.uk/president
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