online final 31 - Imperial College London

editorial
RALPH HODGSON, JAN CHLEBIK
DEAR ALUMNUS,
It gives me great pleasure to say hello through the pages of this
winter 2007–08 edition of Imperial Matters, and I thank you for
your continued interest in Imperial College.
You may be aware that Imperial has just completed a momentous
year, encompassing not just our Centenary but also independence as
a university in our own right, a royal visit by Her Majesty The Queen
and Gordon Brown’s first outing to a UK university as Prime Minister.
The year also saw Imperial named the fifth best university in the
world in the Times Higher Education Supplement World University
Rankings, a great tribute to the dedication of the College’s staff.
Perhaps the achievement that will have the most far-reaching
impact on people’s lives here in the UK, however, is our creation
of an Academic Health Science Centre. On 1 October 2007, with
the newly-merged St Mary’s and Hammersmith Hospitals Trusts,
the College formed Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
This integration of teaching and research with the delivery of
patient care, a first for the UK, will create a healthcare centre of
international standing, in which breakthroughs move speedily
from bench to bedside. You can read more about this exciting
prospect on page 18.
The past year has been enriched by many alumni events,
including the Centenary Reunion in September, which saw around
900 people return to the College to see what has changed and
what has stayed the same. I imagine that some of you reading
this attended the event, and I hope that it brought back some
happy memories – we are always thrilled to have you back, and
we look forward to many more opportunities to get together in
the future. Turn to page 12 to read about many of the celebratory
events that took place during 2007, and read more about the
reunion on page 15.
This year also saw the return of one particularly well-known
Imperial student, who finally completed the PhD he started over
30 years ago and which he abandoned in favour of a blossoming
musical career with Queen. You can read about Dr Brian May
on page 16.
Of course, Imperial’s alumni family is a global one, and in
celebration of that we held the College’s first graduation ceremony
outside the UK during my time as Rector. Our Asia Convocation,
held in the magnificent surroundings of Singapore’s University
Cultural Centre, offered a wonderful opportunity to visit the region
from which so many of our students hail, and was part of a wider
trip to Asia that encompassed several events and meetings with
members of alumni associations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand
and India. My thanks go to them all for their great hospitality.
My message at the Asia Convocation ceremony, as it is at all
of our graduation ceremonies, was that graduation day does not
represent the end of your relationship with Imperial. We see it as
an ongoing connection and hope that you do too.
So, my thanks go to all who attend alumni events through the
year, who read this magazine and contact us with their views, and
who share their memories of Imperial and let us know about their
post-Imperial accomplishments.
Our Centenary Campaign to raise £207 million through
philanthropic support is well underway, and I would like to
express my thanks to all of our generous supporters, many of
whom have given through the Annual Fund. You will find issue
nine of building the connection enclosed with this mailing, which
contains news of recent gifts to the campaign.
Imperial is embarking on its second century with a great sense
of optimism and we are delighted that you wish to join us on the
next stage of our exciting journey.
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