Alumni and former staff were honoured during the College's Graduation Ceremonies for postgraduates in the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 7 May.

Mr Koh Boon Hwee receives his honorary doctorate

Alongside 2,700 graduating students alumnus Mr Koh Boon Hwee (BEng Mechanical Engineering 1971), Chairman of Singapore’s Nanyang Technical University (NTU), was awarded an honorary doctorate, marking his outstanding contribution to education in Singapore while alumnus Mr Rajive Kaul (BEng Metallurgical Engineering 1971), Chairman of Indian conglomerate the Nicco group, received the Imperial College Medal in recognition of his work as President of the Imperial College Alumni Association of India.

As NTU’s Chair Mr Koh Boon Hwee has overseen NTU’s growth as an internationally recognised research university, recently placed number five in the Times Higher Education’s top 100 universities under 50 years old. He has also been a strong supporter of Singapore’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, a joint Imperial-NTU initiative which opened its doors to its first students in 2013.

L to R: The Provost, Rodney Eastwood, Brian Spalding, Rajive Kaul, the President & Rector

Mr Kaul  leads one of the College’s most active alumni groups and has been instrumental in establishing the Imperial College India Foundation, which raises money to support Imperial scholarships for outstanding Indian students who have not already completed a degree at a higher education institution outside India.

Also honoured were Professor Dudley Brian Spalding FRS, FRAE, retired Professor of Heat Transfer, who received an honorary degree in recognition of his pioneering research into Computational Fluid Dynamics and Dr Rodney Eastwood, former College Secretary, awarded an Imperial College Medal for his outstanding contribution to the life and work of the College.

About the honourees

The following citations were read out at the graduation ceremonies.

Mr Koh Boon Hwee

Today we honour one of Imperial’s most distinguished alumni, Mr Koh Boon Hwee.

Since the day in 1972 when he sat in this Hall to receive a first class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mr Koh has continued to learn, innovate and apply his exceptional skills to a vast range of fields.

Mr Koh’s career began at Hewlett Packard – picking up an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School along the way – rising to become HP’s Managing Director for Singapore. Since leaving HP in 1990, Mr Koh has served as Chairman for companies as diverse as the Wuthelam Group, Singapore Telecom, Singapore Airlines and DBS Bank. He currently serves on the board of several public and private organisations in the US, Hong Kong & Singapore, including the Hewlett Foundation. He is chairman of Credence Capital, a private equity fund focused on investing in innovative Southeast Asian SMEs.

A strong supporter of education – including through his own philanthropy – Mr Koh has spent the last 21 years as Chairman of Nanyang Technological University’s Board of Trustees. During this period NTU has been transformed into a research and teaching powerhouse, and was recognised just last week as the 5th top university in the world under 50 years old.

Mr Koh has been an exceptional champion of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore: a partnership between Imperial and NTU. Thanks in great part to Mr Koh’s guidance, the two universities managed to turn an incredibly ambitious vision into a pioneering medical school that admitted its first students last year.

Professor Brian Spalding

We recognise today a friend and colleague whose contributions to science and industry are of deep significance.

Professor Brian Spalding’s links with Imperial date back to 1954 when he joined the College as Reader in Applied Heat Transfer, becoming Professor of Heat Transfer four years later.

He was subsequently Head of the College’s Computational Fluid Dynamics Unit: a position he held until his retirement in 1988 – loyal service that was only interrupted by occasional visiting professorships at leading peer-institutions such as MIT and Berkeley.

Professor Spalding’s outstanding work on thermodynamics, combustion, heat transfer, boundary-layer theory and, most notably, computational fluid dynamics had a deep impact. His development of accurate computer models for fluid analysis is widely recognised as groundbreaking.

His commitment to translating the fruits of that research led to the founding of Concentration Heat and Momentum Limited (CHAM) where Professor Spalding still serves as Managing Director.

After seven decades in the field, it is a pleasure to see this great teacher and researcher continue to contribute so much to the engineering sciences.

Dr Rodney Eastwood

Today we honour a former colleague who has profoundly shaped both Imperial College and the wider education landscape, Dr Rodney Eastwood.

After 13 years in that other pillar of Albertopolis, the Natural History Museum, Dr Eastwood served Imperial for more than two decades, holding a variety of roles including Director of Strategy and College Secretary, until his retirement in 2012.

During this time he coordinated the mergers of four medical schools, oversaw a smooth secession from the University of London, and played a key role in Imperial becoming the UK’s first Academic Health Science Centre.

Dr Eastwood’s development of the Inspire scheme to address the then-present decline in scientific attainment in secondary schools – which was championed by the Prime Minister in 2002 – helped ignite a resurgence in science in UK schools.

Since retiring, Dr Eastwood continues to influence higher education policy, giving regular talks to professional audiences on university issues including funding, costing, strategic planning and research assessment.

He also serves as a non-executive Director of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, a Trustee of ESCP-Europe Business School, an editorial advisor to HE, a governor of Chelsea Academy and a Trustee of the RAF Museum.

Whether he was advising government or nominating the Chief Bell Ringer for the Queen’s Tower on graduation days, Dr Eastwood’s extraordinary commitment and attention to detail have made Imperial a better place.

Mr Rajive Kaul

Today we honour one of India’s great industrialists and philanthropists, Mr Rajive Kaul, Chairman of the Nicco Group.

Mr Kaul’s pioneering work has spurred on the extraordinary growth and development of Nicco: an Indian conglomerate renowned for its innovative work in manufacturing, engineering, design and – most prominently – amusement parks. Mr Kaul and colleagues have not only transformed a business, but arguably an entire industry, creating what has been dubbed “the Disneyland of Bengal”.

Mr Kaul’s contributions are much broader than the work of his company, encompassing service as a former President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, the All India Management Association, the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, among other major national organisations. 

A deeply committed philanthropist, Mr Kaul is Chairman of the GK Khemka Charity Trust and Trustee of the JN Bhan Memorial Trust.

After finishing his studies at Imperial in Metallurgical Engineering, Mr Kaul never lost touch with the College, becoming President of the Imperial College Alumni Association in India and founding Director of the Imperial College India Foundation. Today we strengthen those ties.

Photography by Tempest