Associate Provost recognised in New Year's honours

The College is celebrating Professor Stephen Richardson who has been recognised in the New Year's honours list.

Professor Richardson, Associate Provost (Institutional Affairs) and Professor of Chemical Engineering has been awarded a CBE for Services to Chemical Engineering Education. Professor Richardson has had a long and fruitful career at the College, with roles including head of the Department of Chemical Engineering (2001-2008), and then Principal of the Faculty of Engineering (2008 -2010).

Other College-related honours went to Christopher Brinsmead, a member of Imperial’s Council, who received a CBE for Services to UK Life Sciences, and Venugopal Karunakaran Nair, a visiting Professor in the Department of Medicine at Imperial, and Head of Avian Viral Diseases Programme, Pirbright Institute with an OBE for Services to Science.

Professor Jeff Magee, current Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said: “I knew I had big shoes to fill when I took on the Dean’s role previously held by Stephen. His professionalism, outstanding commitment to engineering and down-to-earth approachable nature, means that he leaves a positive impression on anyone he meets.  I consider Stephen to be a friend and great colleague and on behalf of the entire College, I’d like to congratulate him on this honour, which is thoroughly deserved.”

Professor Richardson said: “I am delighted that the citation mentions both chemical engineering and education. I have spent almost my whole working life at Imperial. I regard education as being as important to Imperial as research, and I try to do it as well as I can. I have so far received over 100 comments from friends, family and colleagues, which have all been extremely positive and sharing in my pleasure.  I plan to celebrate this honour by buying the new suit that my wife, Hilary, keeps trying to get me to get, and by throwing a party after the investiture.”

Professor Richardson’s research focusses on making the oil and gas industry safer. Among his many achievements, he is a world expert in ‘blowdown’ - the standard, but often hazardous, procedure carried out by engineers to rapidly depressurise a pipeline in an emergency. Professor Richardson and his colleague Dr Graham Saville have developed the only computer program in the world that can simulate and predict what happens during blowdown to make the procedure safer for engineers to carry out. It has been extensively used on offshore oil and gas platforms and onshore gas terminals. It has also been used by Professor Richardson to provide expert evidence to major accident investigations such as those following the Piper Alpha tragedy, where an explosion and the resulting oil and gas fires destroyed an offshore oil platform in 1988, killing 167 men.

This extensive and practical experience in the oil and gas sector has enabled Professor Richardson and his colleagues over the decades to provide a much richer research-based educational experience for students – the hallmark of Imperial’s education.

As Professor Richardson’s CBE is in particular recognition of his contributions to education, we asked alumni, Professor Omar Matar and Dr Mark McBride-Wright, to reflect on life as his students and then collaborators.

Professor Omar Matar, from Imperial’s Department of Chemical Engineering, was both a student of Professor Richardson’s and later went on to become a colleague, first as a lecturer in 1998 and then as Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Professor Matar said: “Stephen set the standard for us when we were students. He was the yard-stick by which we measured ourselves in terms of technical ability, outstanding communication skills, high-achievement, and excellence - not to mention his quick wit, and sense of humour. I was very proud to have been his personal tutee. I always felt very privileged.

“As a colleague I’ve had the chance to see another side to him and have been struck by his high level of professionalism and his incredible efficiency. Stephen was, and still is, equal to any task, and always on top of everything. He treats everyone fairly and he is universally admired for it. I learned a tremendous amount simply by watching him. I know all of his colleagues will be quietly pleased that Stephen received this recognition.”

Mark McBride-Wright did both his undergraduate degree and PhD degree in Imperial’s Department of Chemical Engineering. He is now a Process Safety Engineer working in the engineering contracting sector. Mark says he clearly remembers his interview with Professor Richardson in February 2005 on his 17th birthday for his application to Imperial, which was a significant influence on his decision to accept Imperial’s subsequent offer. Professor Richardson became Mark’s personal tutor during his undergraduate degree and was instrumental in inspiring him to pursue a career in safety.

Mark said: “Stephen taught the third year module on Process Safety & Loss Prevention, and talked about his personal experience around his work involving the Piper Alpha oil platform disaster in 1988. This had an impact on me, and I moved in to safety within the oil and gas sector for my career as a result. I have kept in touch with him and hope to work with him as part of the Institute of Chemical Engineers Safety & Loss Prevention Group on improving awareness of process safety to chemical engineering students. I know I speak on behalf of his former students when I say his CBE is thoroughly deserved.”

Dr Venugopal Nair, who received an OBE, is a leading expert in Marek’s disease, a highly contagious disease of poultry that causes major economic losses worldwide. Although vaccines have successfully been used for 40 years to prevent Marek’s disease, the virus continuously evolves to be more virulent, and Dr Nair’s research investigates how this occurs. His work also offers important insights into the mechanisms of how viruses cause cancer in animals and humans.

Dr Nair said: “I was delighted and honoured to be awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list. Although it is a personal recognition of my scientific contributions, it is indeed a tribute to the research work of several colleagues, including a number of past and present collaborators from the Pirbright Institute and Imperial.”

Alumni honours

Thirteen Imperial alumni were also recognised in the New Year’s Honours. OBEs were awarded to the following: Professor Gwyneth Stallard (PhD Mathematics, 1991) for services to engineering; Cecil Balmond (Civil Engineering, 1970) for services to architecture; Alastair Campbell (Environmental Management, 1998) for services to financial services and charitable fundraising; and Professor Paul Ekins (Electrical Engineering, 1971) for services to environmental policy.

Four alumni received an MBE: Subhash Chaudhary (Chemical Engineering 1974) for services to biotechnology manufacture in North East England; Reverend Dr Richard Hills (Natural Sciences, 1964) for services to industrial heritage; Claire Milne (Mathematics, 1973) for services to the telecommunications sector; and Andrew Panter (Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1965) for services to charity and the community in Berkshire.

Professor Timothy Noel Palmer (Medicine, 1980) was awarded a CBE for services to science, while Professor Rosalind Smyth (Medicine, 1983), Director of the Institute of Child Health, was awarded a CBE for services to regulations of medicines for children.

A further three alumni received a British Empire Medal: Valerie Gill (Medicine 1972) for services in the community in Slyne and Hest Bank in Lancashire; Rebecca Jeffree (Taxonomy and Biodiversity 2006), co-founder of the Women’s Network at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, for services to gender equality in the workplace; and Franklin Boucher (Electrical Engineering, 1960), a volunteer for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, for his services to the blind and partially sighted.