Richard Sykes
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard Brook Sykes, DSc
, FRS, FMedSci
, FKC (born 7 August 1942) is a biochemist
and former executive in a number of pharmaceuticals, most notably GlaxoSmithKline
. He is the former rector of Imperial College, London, UK. Sir Richard was the Senior Independent Director and non-executive Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
(ENRC) until June 2011. Sir Richard Sykes is currently the Chairman of The UK Stem Cell Foundation and Non-executive Director of Lonza AG.
, and a PhD
in Microbial Biochemistry from the University of Bristol
as well as number of honorary degree
s, including ones from the universities of Birmingham
, Brunel
, Cranfield
, Edinburgh
, Hertfordshire
, Huddersfield
, Hull
, Leeds
, Leicester
, Madrid
, Newcastle, Nottingham
, Sheffield Hallam
, Sheffield
, Strathclyde
, Surrey
, Warwick
and Westminster
.
and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
. In 1994, he was knight
ed for his services to the pharmaceutical industry and in 1999 he was awarded the Singapore National Day Public Service Star Award for his services to the economy of Singapore
. In December 2007 he was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director at Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
(ENRC). In October 2008, Sykes accepted Farad Azima
's invitation to join the NetScientific Group as the non-executive Chairman. In 2009, Sykes accepted the position as executive chairman of Toumaz Technology Ltd.
of Imperial College, London.
Sykes's tenure was not without controversy.
On 1 July 2008, he was succeeded as Rector of Imperial College by Professor Roy Anderson
.
. He is a trustee of the Natural History Museum
(London) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
.
In September 2008, he was appointed Chair of NHS London
, but resigned in May 2010 over the incoming government's
decision to halt planned hospital reorganisations in London.
The world's oldest scientific organisation - the UK's Royal Institution - appointed Sir Richard Sykes as the new chairman of its council in September 2010.BBC News
He is a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering
.
DSC
-in academia:* D.Sc., Doctor of Science* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine* Dalton State College, Georgia* Daytona State College, Florida* Deep Springs College, California* Dixie State College of Utah...
, FRS, FMedSci
Academy of Medical Sciences
The Academy of Medical Sciences is the United Kingdom's national academy of medical sciences. It was established in 1998 on the recommendation of a group that was chaired by Michael Atiyah. Its president is John Irving Bell....
, FKC (born 7 August 1942) is a biochemist
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
and former executive in a number of pharmaceuticals, most notably GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline plc is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
. He is the former rector of Imperial College, London, UK. Sir Richard was the Senior Independent Director and non-executive Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLC is a diversified natural resources company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has activities in mining, processing, energy, logistics and marketing....
(ENRC) until June 2011. Sir Richard Sykes is currently the Chairman of The UK Stem Cell Foundation and Non-executive Director of Lonza AG.
Degrees
Sir Richard Sykes holds a degree from the King's College LondonKing's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, and a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Microbial Biochemistry from the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
as well as number of honorary degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
s, including ones from the universities of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, Brunel
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
, Cranfield
Cranfield University
Cranfield University is a British postgraduate university based on two campuses, with a research-oriented focus. The main campus is at Cranfield, Bedfordshire and the second is the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom based at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. The main campus is unique in the United...
, Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, Hertfordshire
University of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire is a new university based largely in Hatfield, in the county of Hertfordshire, England, from which the university takes its name. It has more than 27,500 students, over 2500 staff, with a turnover of over £181m...
, Huddersfield
University of Huddersfield
The University of Huddersfield is a university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.- History :The University traces its roots back to a Science and Mechanic Institute founded in 1825...
, Hull
University of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
, Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, Leicester
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
, Madrid
University of Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid is a public university in Madrid, Spain, and one of the oldest universities in the world.The University of Madrid may also refer to:* The Autonomous University of Madrid, a public university founded in 1968...
, Newcastle, Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
, Sheffield Hallam
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University is a higher education institution in South Yorkshire, England, based on two sites in Sheffield. City Campus is located in the city centre, close to Sheffield railway station, and Collegiate Crescent Campus is about two miles away, adjacent to Ecclesall Road in...
, Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
, Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
, Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
and Westminster
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
.
Commerce
Until 2001, Sir Richard Sykes was chairman of GlaxoSmithKlineGlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline plc is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
. In 1994, he was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed for his services to the pharmaceutical industry and in 1999 he was awarded the Singapore National Day Public Service Star Award for his services to the economy of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. In December 2007 he was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director at Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLC is a diversified natural resources company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has activities in mining, processing, energy, logistics and marketing....
(ENRC). In October 2008, Sykes accepted Farad Azima
Farad Azima
Farad Azima is a British Iranian industrialist, inventor and philanthropist.His postgraduate studies were at Leeds University, where he is an active alumnus. The diversity of his life and work extends from pioneering research in new technologies, to the worlds of design, culture and the arts.In...
's invitation to join the NetScientific Group as the non-executive Chairman. In 2009, Sykes accepted the position as executive chairman of Toumaz Technology Ltd.
Imperial College
Between January 2001 and July 2008, Sykes was the RectorRector of Imperial College
The Rector of Imperial College is the highest academic official of Imperial College London. The Rector is the chief executive, elected by the Council of the college and Chairman of the Senate. The position is currently head on an interim basis by Keith O'Nions after the resignation of Roy Anderson...
of Imperial College, London.
Sykes's tenure was not without controversy.
- In 2004 he spearheaded an abortive attempt to merge Imperial College with University College LondonUniversity College LondonUniversity College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. - He supported the lifting of the £3,000 cap on tuition fees and instead allowing the universities to set fees at anything up to £10,000, a proposal opposed by many student-representing societies. This was long before UK coalition government reforms that allow £9,000 fees to be charged from 2011.
- His predecessor at Imperial had brokered a merger with the University of London's agricultural college, Wye CollegeWye CollegeThe College of St. Gregory and St. Martin at Wye, more commonly known as Wye College, was an educational institution in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests. It is located in the small village of Wye, Kent, 60...
. Sykes overturned a promise to keep Agricultural Sciences taught at Wye at the end of 2004. By 2005 Imperial announced plans to create a non-food crops and biomass fuels research centre, anchoring a major housing development on College land. The true extent of these plans, which would have seen the small academic village become a town, were kept secret from the public by Imperial, Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Council. Plans collapsed in June 2006 after media leaks and loss of their potential industry partner, and Imperial then renounced all development aspirations for the campus and surrounding land. The Save.Wye campaign described Sykes as an "...an avaricious businessman posing as an academic" after the full extent of the plans were revealed. A book by David Hewson details the entire episode. - In March 2006 his salary became the centre of attention amongst Imperial College staff and students after the students' union newspaper, FELIXFelix (newspaper)Felix is the award-winning student newspaper of Imperial College London. It won the Guardian Student Newspaper of the Year award in 2008. The newspaper is published weekly during term time, approximately 30 issues per year, and is distributed around the various Imperial College campuses.The FELIX...
, published a front page article highlighting how much he was paid. Sir Richard received a salary £305,000 a year, the second highest among university principals after Professor Laura Tyson, dean of the London Business SchoolLondon Business SchoolLondon Business School is an international business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London, located in central London, beside Regent's Park...
.
On 1 July 2008, he was succeeded as Rector of Imperial College by Professor Roy Anderson
Roy Anderson (zoologist)
Sir Roy Malcolm Anderson FRS is a leading British expert on epidemiology. He has mathematically modelled the spread of diseases such as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and AIDS...
.
Other activities
Sir Richard is chairman of the think-tank ReformReform (think tank)
Reform is a British centre-right, liberal, think tank based in London, whose declared mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity via private sector involvement and market de-regulation. Reform describes itself as independent and non-partisan...
. He is a trustee of the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
(London) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
.
In September 2008, he was appointed Chair of NHS London
NHS London
NHS London is a strategic health authority of the National Health Service in England. It operates in the London region, which is coterminous with the local government office region....
, but resigned in May 2010 over the incoming government's
Cameron Ministry
David Cameron is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government after the resignation as Prime Minister of Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010. Leading a coalition government formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the coalition...
decision to halt planned hospital reorganisations in London.
The world's oldest scientific organisation - the UK's Royal Institution - appointed Sir Richard Sykes as the new chairman of its council in September 2010.BBC News
He is a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering
Campaign for Science and Engineering
The Campaign for Science and Engineering is a non-profit organization which promotes science and engineering in the UK. It focuses on arguing for more research funding, promoting a high-tech and knowledge-based economy, highlighting the need for top-quality science and maths education at all...
.