Professor Tom Welton, Professor of Sustainable Chemistry, has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Chemistry for a second term with effect from 1 August 2012.
Professor Welton joined the College in 1993 as Lloyds of London Tercentenary Fellow following appointments at the University of Exeter and the University of Sussex. At Imperial, following a series of promotions, he became Professor in Sustainable Chemistry in 2004. He held the position of Director of Undergraduate Studies within the Department of Chemistry from 2002 to 2007 and commenced his first term as Head of Department on 1 August 2007. His research focuses on making chemicals and related industries environmentally and economically sustainable.
Professor Welton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was Ingold Lecturer of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2007. He received the 2011 Paul Walden Award from the German Science Foundation, the DFG, for fundamental ionic liquid research and in 2012 he received a Rector’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.