- Richard Sykes (biochemist)
Sir Richard Sykes,
DSc , FRS, FMedSci, FKC (born1942 ) is a biochemist and former executive in a number of pharmaceuticals, most notablyGlaxoSmithKline .Degrees
He holds a degree from
King's College London , and a Ph.D. inMicrobial Biochemistry from theUniversity of Bristol as well as number ofhonorary 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.Commerce
Until 2001, Sykes was chairman of
GlaxoSmithKline and president of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science . In1994 he wasknighted for his services to thepharmaceutical industry and in1999 he was awarded theSingapore National Day Public Service Star Award for his services to the economy ofSingapore . In December 2007 he was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director atEurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC).Imperial College
Between January 2001 and July 2008, Sykes was the Rector of
Imperial College, London .In 2004 he spearheaded an abortive attempt to merge Imperial College with
University College London .He also controversially 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.
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 received a salary £305,000 a year, the second highest among university principals after Professor Laura Tyson, dean of theLondon Business School .On July 1st, 2008, he was succeeded as Rector of Imperial College by Professor Roy Anderson.
Other activities
Sir Richard is chairman of the think-tank Reform. He is a trustee of the
Natural History Museum (London) and theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew .In September 2008 he was appointed Chair of
NHS London .
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