Independent Imperial College London awards its first degrees

Graduation gowns

Queen bestows Royal Charter that declares Imperial an independent university - <em>News Release</em>

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00.01 BST
Monday 9 July 2007

The first ever Imperial College London degrees are awarded today (9 July), following the bestowal of a Royal Charter by Her Majesty The Queen that declares the College an independent university in its own right.

The Queen will be joined at Imperial by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, who is one of five distinguished figures to be awarded an honorary Imperial College degree.

The Duke is recognised today for his wide-ranging initiatives for young people as well as his outstanding support for scientific and technological research. He will be amongst the first people to wear the College's new purple ceremonial robes, designed in tribute to Imperial alumnus Sir William Perkin who discovered mauveine, the first synthetic dye.

The Royal party is joined by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned of Qatar, who also receives an honorary degree in recognition of her work with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.

The five honorary graduates recognised are:

  • His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh
  • Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned of Qatar
  • Dame Vivien Duffield, Chair of the Clore Duffield Foundation
  • Mrs Lily Safra, Chair of the Edmond J Safra Philanthropic Foundation
  • Professor Winston Wong, Taiwanese business leader and a physics alumnus of Imperial who is also a Visiting Professor in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering

The Duke of Edinburgh accepts one of Imperial's first degrees as an independent institution from Rector Sir Richard SykesImperial's Rector Sir Richard Sykes  adds: "All of today's honorary graduates are prominent supporters of science, technology and medicine, and all lead efforts to improve human welfare around the world. We are proud to have this opportunity to recognise their endeavours."

Imperial achieves independence from the University of London after becoming one of its constituent colleges in 1929 and awarding its degrees since 1908. The College was granted the ability to award its own degrees by the Privy Council in 2003 but has not exercised this until today.

The first students to register for an Imperial degree will be postgraduates enrolling in October 2007, while the first undergraduates will be those beginning their course in October 2008.

The College's new Royal Charter states: 'The Objects of the University shall be to provide the highest specialised instruction and the most advanced training, education, research and scholarship in science, technology and medicine, especially in their application to industry; and in pursuit of these objects to act in co-operation with other bodies.'

The honorary degree ceremony forms part of a royal visit to celebrate the Centenary of Imperial's foundation on 8 July 1907. During the visit, The Queen will also open the College's new Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

More information on Imperial's Centenary is available at: www.imperial.ac.uk/centenary

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For further information contact:

Abigail Smith
Imperial College London Press Office
Tel: 020 7594 6701
Email: abigail.smith@imperial.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

About the honorary graduates

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has played an important role nationally and internationally both through his active support for wide-ranging charities and his own initiatives for young people.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, has been married to The Queen since 1947. He was born Prince of Greece and Denmark in Corfu in 1921, but renounced his royal title when he became a naturalised British subject in 1947.

After joining the Royal Navy in 1939, Prince Philip saw active service throughout the Second World War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. He was present in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered.

When Princess Elizabeth became Queen in 1952, Prince Philip gave up his naval career to support The Queen in her duties. The Duke of Edinburgh has no constitutional role other than as a Privy Counsellor.

He has, however, played a prominent part in many aspects of our national life. He accompanies The Queen on all her Commonwealth tours and State visits overseas, as well as tours and visits across the UK. He is patron or president of some 800 organisations with a special interest in scientific and technological research and development, encouragement of sport, welfare of young people, and conservation of the natural environment.

The Duke of Edinburgh has had several links with higher education. He was Chancellor of the University of Wales from 1948–76, and Chancellor of the University of Salford from 1967–91. His Royal Highness has also been Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh since 1952 and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge since 1976.

The organisation most closely identified with Prince Philip is The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Launched in 1956, the award scheme aims to develop young people’s self-confidence and helps them discover new skills, interests and talents. Over the past 50 years, six million young people, aged 15-25, from over 100 countries have taken part, including Prince Philip’s youngest son, The Earl of Wessex, a Gold Award winner and now a Trustee for the Award.

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned is actively engaged in education and social reforms in Qatar and has spearheaded both national and international development projects.

She is chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, a private non-profit organization founded in 1995 on the personal initiative of the Emir of Qatar.

In 2003, the Qatar Foundation inaugurated Education City, a prototypical university of the future bringing campuses of international universities together in Qatar to share research and community-based ventures. Education City provides innovative educational and research opportunities through leading institutions such as Qatar Academy (K-12 school) and Weill Cornell Medical College.

Her Highness is president of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, a government institution founded in 1998 to strengthen the role of family in society. In 2002, she was appointed vice-chairperson of the Supreme Education Council, overseeing Qatar’s reform efforts in the K-12 education system.

Her Highness’ portfolio is becoming incr easingly international. For the past four years, she has been UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, promoting projects to i mprove the quality and accessibility of education worldwide. In 2003, Her Highness established the International Fund for Higher Education, dedicated to the reconstructio n of institutions of advanced learning in Iraq. In 2005, she joined the United Nations High Level Group of the Alliance of Civilizations, set up by the Secretary General to develop creative mechanisms for combating extremi sm.

Her Hi ghness graduated from the University of Qatar with a degree in Sociology in 1986 and has be e n award ed honor a ry doctorates from Virginia Commonwealth University, Texas A&M University and Carnegie Mellon University.

Dame Vivien Duffield

Dame Vivien Duffield is the daughter of Sir Charles Clore, one of Britain’s most successful post-war businessmen and a generous philanthropist.

Dame Duffield grew up with a firm belief in supporting charitable endeavours and, following Sir Charles’ death in 1979, assumed Chairmanship of the Clore Foundation. In 1987, she created her own Foundation to continue and consolidate her family’s history of philanthropy. The two Foundations were merged in 2000 to become the Clore Duffield Foundation.

Since 1998, the Foundation has donated and pledged in excess of £10,000,000 to museum and gallery education. It has also funded Clore Education Centres within institutions including the Tate Modern, British Museum and Natural History Museum. The Foundation is responsible for the Artworks Young Artists of the Year Awards, celebrating visual literacy and creativity in our schools, and the Clore Leadership Programme designed to develop a new generation of cultural leaders for the UK.

Dame Duffield is closely associated with a number of charities including the NSPCC, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Royal Marsden Hospital. She is currently Deputy Chairman of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, Chairman of the Royal Opera House Endowment Fund, Director of the South Bank Centre and a Governor the Royal Ballet. She was named Benefactor of the Year by the National Art Collections Fund in 1988, awarded the CBE in 1989, the DBE in 2000 and the Mont Blanc Arts Patronage Award in 2001.

She is an Honorary Fellow of the City of Jerusalem, Lady Margaret Hall (Oxford University) and King’s College London and an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Music. She holds honorary degrees from the University of Buckingham and the Weizmann Institute.

Mrs Lily Safra

Mrs. Lily Safra is a distinguished philanthropist, patron of the arts and advocate for the socially disadvantaged.

Mrs Safra’s commitment to bettering the lives of others was shared with her late husband, the well-known banker Edmond J. Safra. Mrs. Safra chairs the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation which supports projects across education, science and medicine, religion, culture and humanitarian relief. She is also Honorary Chairman of the International Sephardic Education Foundation, founded by her husband in 1977 to promote higher education for gifted, but disadvantaged, Israeli youngsters. To date, over 16,000 scholarships have been granted, including support for more than 1,000 MA and PhD candidates.

Mrs Safra is also a member of the Advisory Council of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.

Both personally and through the Philanthropic Foundation, she supports research into Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and cancer. Mrs Safra is a Board member of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and, because of her awareness of distress among families of those battling illnesses, supported the building of the Edmond J. Safra Family Lodge at the National Institutes of Health near Washington DC.

Mrs Safra is a Governor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, member of New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage and Chairman’s Council of the Museum of Modern Art and a trustee of the Somerset House Arts Fund.

Mrs Safra holds honorary doctorates from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Brandeis University, Boston. She is also an Honorary Fellow of King’s College London and the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Mrs Safra is a Commandeur of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and was named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2005.

Professor Winston Wong

Professor Winston Wong has an international career in business few could hope to aspire to. He is the principal founder of the GRACE THW Group, China, serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 1996. He is also the founder and Director of China’s Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (GSMC).

Professor Wong was awarded a PhD in Physics from Imperial College in 1975 before beginning his career as a design engineer with PPG Industries in the USA. He joined Nan Ya Plastics, Taiwan – the world’s largest secondary plastics processor - as Superintendent at its Lin Kou Plant in 1979, rising to become Senior Vice President from 1993-95. In 1994, he founded and was President of Nan Ya Technology, a leading DRAM manufacturing company in Taiwan. He also founded and directed the Trust-Mart CO. from 1996-2006.

Described as passionate, hard-working and dynamic, Professor Wong has infused the Grace THW Group with his own brand of energetic leadership, vision and spirit. Together with the company’s other technical and business leaders, he is focused on continuing Grace THW’s innovation and leadership across its eight companies, specialising in electronic materials and plastics. The Group’s revenue in 2006 was almost $900 million dollars.

Throughout his career, Professor Wong has retained close links with Imperial College. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering for major contributors to semi conductor physics and sponsors the Chair in Biomedical Circuits, held by Professor Chris Toumazou.

Professor Wong recognised the huge potential in the incubation and commercialisation of University technology and as a result co-founded ‘Future Waves Ltd’, a successful Imperial College spin-out company now based in Taiwan that provides some of the world’s lowest power digital radio broadcast semiconductor chips. Professor Wong’s foresight and passion for interdisciplinary and translational research has led to the application of the technology to a new branch of sensors for chronic disease diagnostics in healthcare. This will ultimately help with the prevention of diseases such as diabetes and heart failure. Both of which are now major research themes sponsored by Professor Wong in the Institute.

Professor Wong was founding Dean and Professor at the Chang Gung College of Medicine and Technology, Taiwan, from 1994-95. He was also a distinguished Visiting Scholar in HAAS Business and Engineering School at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1995-96.

About Imperial College London

Imperial College London - rated as the world’s ninth best university in the 2006 Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings - is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 11,500 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.

Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

With 66 Fellows of the Royal Society among our current academic staff and distinguished past members of the College including 14 Nobel Laureates and two Fields Medallists, Imper i al's contribution to society has been immense. Inventions and innovations include the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and th e foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of our research for the benefit of all continues today with current focuses including interdisciplinary c ollaborations to tackle climate change and mathematical modelling to predict and control the spread of infectious diseases.

The College's 100 years of living science will be celebrated throughout 2007 with a rang e of events to mark th e Centenary of the signing of Imperial's founding charter on 8 July 1907.

Visit Imperial at www.imperial.ac.uk

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