Richard Sykes

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For the assassinated British ambassador to the Netherlands, see Richard Sykes (diplomat).

Sir Richard Sykes (born 1942) is the Rector of Imperial College, a Fellow of the Royal Society and a trustee of the Natural History Museum (London) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He was formerly chairman of GlaxoSmithKline and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He is perhaps best known for leading Glaxo’s introduction of the drug Zantac.

He holds a Ph.D. in Microbial Biochemistry from the University of Bristol as well as number of honorary degrees, 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.

In 1994 he was knighted 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 March 2006 his salary became the centre of attention amongst Imperial College staff and students after the University paper, Felix, published a front page article highlighting how much he was paid. Sir Richard Sykes receives a salary £305,000 a year, the second highest among university principals after Professor Laura Tyson, dean of the London Business School. Sir Richard is also the chairman of the think-tank Reform.

Preceded by: Lord Oxburgh

Rector of Imperial College London 2000-Present

Succeeded by: incumbent