Leading figures from politics and industry admitted to the Fellowship of Imperial College London

Imperial celebrates student achievement at Postgraduate Awards Ceremonies - News Release

For immediate use
Wednesday 9 May 2007

Leading international figures from the worlds of politics and industry are admitted to the Fellowship of Imperial College London at its Postgraduate Awards Ceremonies in the Royal Albert Hall today.

Recognised by the College with the highest honour it can bestow are Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights; Ratan Tata, Chair of Tata Sons; and Dr Edmund Daukoru, Minister of Energy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Today's ceremonies also include the presentation of Research Excellence Awards of up to £150,000 to four Imperial teams judged to have demonstrated continuing high academic achievement. This year's recipients are teams led by Professor Sir Ara Darzi  for the development of the use of robotics in surgery, Professor Philippe Froguel  for research into genetic epidemiology and childhood obesity, Professor Wayne Luk  for work on reconfigurable supercomputing and Professor Donal Bradley  for the development of molecular electronic materials and devices.

The ceremonies celebrate the graduation of 1,400 Imperial postgraduates, and are the first to be held in the College's Centenary year. Congratulating graduands and guests, Imperial's Rector Sir Richard Sykes  said:

"According to the American playwright Wilson Mizner: 'Life's a tough proposition, and the first hundred years are the hardest.' Imperial's first hundred years, which we celebrate this year, may have been bumpy at times but it has also been 100 years of spectacular success.

"The College has fulfilled a key part of its founding mission, which is to apply science to industry for the benefit of society. As we look forward to the next 100 years we are determined to remain on that path. Our success will be due solely to people like you, who come from around the world to join the cultural and intellectual life in this exciting corner of London."

Imperial's Centenary celebrations continue throughout 2007 and include an additional undergraduate graduation ceremony held in Singapore in November 2007 to reflect the number of students at Imperial from Asia.

For further information contact:

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

Notes to editors:

The new Fellows are:

Dr Edmund Daukoru

Dr Edmund Daukoru is Minister of Energy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

His long and distinguished career in the global petroleum industry began after receiving a prestigious Shell Scholarship to study BSc and PhD degrees in Geology at Imperial College. On his return to Nigeria in 1970, he started work as a Team Geologist for Shell, later becoming Chief Petroleum Geologist in 1978 and Manager of one of Shell’s two oil-producing divisions in Nigeria in 1984. In 1989, he became Executive Director for Exploration and Deep water for Shell in Nigeria, the first Nigerian to hold this strategic technical position. Three years later, he was invited by the Nigerian Government to become Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in which capacity he helped to secure take off of Nigeria’s first LNG project whilst laying the foundation for improving the revenue profile of the corporation.

For the next 10 years, Dr Daukoru worked in private consultancy before being appointed Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy in 2003 and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources in 2005. In January this year, Dr Daukoru became Minister of Energy for Nigeria, overseeing the newly-merged Ministries of Petroleum and Power.

For his services to the global petroleum industry and to Nigeria, Dr Daukoru was given the National Award of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2006 and elected as the traditional Amayanabo, Mingi XII of Nembe Kingdom, a prestigious traditional kingship stool in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata is Chairman of Tata Sons, holding company of the Tata Group, India, where he has overseen a six-fold increase in group revenues since 1991.

He joined the Tata Group in 1962 after completing a BSc degree in Architecture with Structural Engineering at Cornell University. In 1971, he was appointed Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company (NELCO). Ten years later, he became Chairman of Tata Industries, which he transformed into a strategy think-tank and promoter of new high technology ventures. Since 1991, he has been Chairman of Tata Sons and major Tata companies including Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Tea.

Ratan Tata is Chairman of the Government of India’s Investment Commission and a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry, National Hydrogen Energy Board and National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. He serves on the International Investment Council in South Africa and the UK Government’s International Business Advisory Council. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, the Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee to the New York Stock Exchange and international advisory boards for the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Rolls Royce.

He is President of the Court of the Indian Institute of Science and Chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He is a member of the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS and the Programme Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s India AIDS Initiative.

In 2000, Ratan Tata received one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan.

Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips was appointed Chair of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) in September 2006, which will take over the work of Britain’s three existing equality commissions in October 2007. Prior to this he was the Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality between March 2003 and September 2006.

Trevor Phillips attended secondary school in Georgetown, Guyana, before joining Imperial College to study chemistry. He was President of the Imperial College Union from 1974-75 and continued his interest in student politics by becoming first Secretary, then President of the National Union of Students from 1977-1980. In 1980, he embarked on his award-winning career in broadcasting, editing and presenting The London Programme and, in 1992, becoming Head of Current Affairs at London Weekend Television. He received awards from the Royal Television Society in 1988, 1993 and 1998 and subsequently was made a vice-president of that Society. In 1995, he set up his own television company, Pepper Productions, where he has produced programmes including Windrush, Britain’s Slave Trade, Second Chance and When Black Became Beautiful.

In May 2000, Trevor Phillips was elected as a member of the Greater London Authority and became Chair of the Assembly later that month. He is currently a board member of the Almeida Theatre in Islington, Aldeburgh Productions and the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham. He is patron of The Sickle Cell Society and, from 1993-98, was Chair of the Runnymede Trust.

In addition to numerous newspaper articles and comment pieces, Trevor Phillips has co-written Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multicultural Britain (with Mike Phillips) published in 1998 and Britain’s Slave Trade (with S.I. Martin) published in 1999.