Richard Sykes (rector)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Richard Sykes.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Sir Richard Sykes, DSc, FRS, FMedSci, (born 1942) is the current Rector of Imperial College. He is 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 holds a degree from King's College London, and 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 students' union newspaper, 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.

He also controversially supports 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.

In summer of 2008, he will be succeeded by Professor Roy Anderson as the Rector of Imperial College.