Month: September 2011

Commemoration Day – 19 October

The College’s annual Commemoration Day ceremonies will take place in the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 19 October. Academic staff are invited to join the procession and celebrate the achievements of Imperial’s newest graduates.

To confirm attendance, complete this form on the graduation website by Monday 3 October.

Staff interested in volunteering to support the ceremonies or to apply for a limited number of audience seats should contact Louise Birrell by email.

In the morning ceremony starting at 11.15 graduands from the Faculties of Engineering and Medicine (MBBS) will be presented.

Honorary awards will be conferred upon:

• Emeritus Professor Bob Schroter, Senior Research Investigator, Department of Bioengineering (Imperial College Medal)

• Susan Hartman, former Assistant Secretary, Faculty of Medicine (Imperial College Medal)

In the afternoon ceremony starting at 15.30 graduands from the Faculties of Natural Sciences and Medicine (BSc Biomedical Sciences and BSc Intercalated) will be presented. An honorary award will be conferred upon:

• Dr Anna Thomas-Betts, former College tutor, Education Office (Imperial College Medal)

Head of the Department of Life Sciences

Professor Murray Selkirk, Professor of Biochemical Parasitology, has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Life Sciences with effect from 1 October 2011. He will succeed Professor Ian Owens who is leaving the College to become Director of Science at the Natural History Museum.

Professor Selkirk joined the College in 1984 as a Research Fellow following a PhD at the National Institute for Medical Research and postdoctoral appointments at the University of Washington, Seattle and University of California Berkeley. He was appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry in 1986, promoted to Reader in 1994 and Professor in 2001, and was Head of the Division of Cell & Molecular Biology from 2005-2008. He has served on numerous steering committees and advisory boards worldwide related to infectious diseases, and is currently Director of the Wellcome Trust PhD Programme in Molecular and Cellular Basis of Infection at the College. His research focuses on infections caused by parasitic helminth worms, and in particular on the mechanisms these parasites use to manipulate the host immune system for long-term survival.

Director of ICT

Dr John Shemilt, Head of Technology Operations and Deputy Director of ICT, has accepted appointment as Director of ICT with effect from 1 October 2011 in succession to Mr Arthur Spirling, MBE, who will retire from the College on 30 September 2011.

Dr Shemilt’s association with the College began in 1971 when he began studying for an undergraduate degree in physics at Imperial. He continued his studies at the College gaining MSc and PhD degrees, before spending nine months in 1978 as a Research Assistant in the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science.  Dr Shemilt was appointed to the role of Microcomputer Centre Supervisor in the Imperial College Computer Centre in 1980 and held posts of increasing responsibility before promotion to his current position in February 2009.

Head of Department of Mathematics

Professor Richard Craster, Professor of Applied Mathematics, has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Mathematics with effect from 1 October 2011. He succeeds Dr Emma McCoy who has been interim Head of Department since July 2010 and will return to her role as Deputy Head of Department.

Professor Craster joined the College in 1988 as a lecturer holding an EPSRC Advanced Fellowship, following a lectureship at the University of Nottingham and Junior Research Fellowship at Corpus Christi College Cambridge. He became Reader in 2000 and Professor in 2004 and has additionally held distinguished, visiting and adjunct professorships at the University of Alberta, Brunel University and University of Aix-Marseilles. He is currently an executive editor of the Quarterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics, Wave Motion and the Journal of Engineering Mathematics. His research focuses on the fluid mechanics of thin films and waves in microstructured elastic or electromagnetic media.