News
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (Ri), home of the world famous CHRISTMAS LECTURES and the world’s longest running series of scientific discourse, has today announced three new appointments to its Board of Trustees. Each brings substantial expertise from the fields of science, industry and finance.
Regius Professor Chris Toumazou is currently the Founding Director and Chief Scientist at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering Imperial College and also London’s first Regius Professor of Engineering. An electronic engineer, Chris is distinguished for his ground-breaking medical innovations in silicon technology and integrated circuit design. His research and entrepreneurial actions have shown how natural analogue physics of silicon semiconductor technology can be used to mimic and replace biological functions such as cochlear implants for born deaf children. Amongst his key inventions was that of semiconductor based DNA sequencing.
John Krumins is currently a Panel Member at the Competition and Markets Authority, a Non-executive Director of Hogg Robinson Group PLC and the Chairman of Wavex, a City-based IT services company. With a background encompassing international corporate finance and data and digital analytics, John brings an executive level focus gained in industrial and technology companies, and those facing digital strategy and disintermediation challenges. He is passionate about education, particularly the promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through schools.
Simon Godwin is an accomplished Chief Financial Officer and has extensive experience and expertise in the financial services sectors. Simon is currently a Partner at Fundsmith, an asset management firm he helped found in 2010, which now handles assets of £12bn. Following a 14 year career in corporate finance, Simon left banking to focus on helping create and run start-up companies. He is passionate about science and, as a Patron, has been a keen supporter of the Royal Institution.
Welcoming the new Trustees to the Ri, Chairman of the Board, Sir Richard Sykes said: “As we finalise a new strategic direction for the Ri, building on our great heritage to become the leading forum of scientific education, debate and discussion, I am pleased to have been able to make such strong appointments to our Board.
“Science has an enormous impact on our lives and having demonstrated substantial achievement in their chosen fields, each of our new Trustees brings the robust skills and new perspectives we will need as we seek to promote an informed and dynamic relationship between science and society.”
As a registered and independent charity – receiving no public funding from Government – the Ri is governed by a Board of Trustees who are responsible for overseeing the management of the Ri; setting overall objectives, safeguarding the Institution’s assets, and ensuring robust financial governance.
The new Trustees’ appointment will take effect as of the Ri’s Trustees Meeting on Tuesday 27 June 2017.
ENDS
For more information contact Robert Davies (020 7670 2991 / rdavies@ri.ac.uk) or Colin Tucker (020 7491 6502 / ctucker@ri.ac.uk) in the Ri press office.
Notes to editors
The new Ri Trustees
Chris Toumazou is an electronic engineer with a wealth of expertise in research, technical innovation and fundraising. He is currently the Founding Director and Chief Scientist at The Institute of Biomedical Engineering Imperial College for which he raised £22 million in 2003. He is London’s first Regius professor of Engineering. He is Founder and CEO of Toumaz Technology and Chairman and CEO of DNA Electronics. Director of the Winston Wong Centre for BioInspired Technology.
Chris is distinguished for his ground-breaking innovations in silicon technology and integrated circuit design. His research and entrepreneurial actions have shown how natural analogue physics of silicon semiconductor technology can be used to mimic and replace biological functions such as cochlear implants for born deaf children. It has been his success in applying silicon chip technology to biomedical and life-science applications, most recently to DNA analysis, that is leading to new innovations in the field of genetics, molecular biology and personalised medicine. Amongst his key inventions was that of semiconductor based DNA sequencing.
For his inventions on semiconductor based genetic testing he won the Gabor Medal of the Royal Society (2013) and European Inventor Award (2014). Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences.
John Krumins brings an executive level focus on service sector; industrial and technology companies – and those facing digital strategy and disintermediation challenges. He is experienced as a Board member in operational, financial, regulatory and governance considerations, and in driving restructuring or change programmes.
He has a background in: international corporate finance; strategy development; financial markets; data and digital analytics, as advisor and principal with public, private and government entities. He is currently a Panel Member at the Competition and Markets Authority, a Non-executive Director of Hogg Robinson Group PLC and the Chairman of Wavex, a City-based IT services company.
John is passionate about education, particularly the promotion of STEM through schools and greater focus on oracy in education. He has been an Advisory Board member at LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts) and is currently on the Board of School21, a multi-academy trust in East London.
John is Chair of the Ri Finance Committee.
Simon Godwin has extensive experience and expertise in finance and the financial services sectors. An accomplished Chief Financial Officer, Simon is currently a Partner at Fundsmith, an asset management firm he helped found in 2010 and which now handles assets of £12bn. Simon also has experience of support services and the property sector, having started companies in both. Simon qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte Haskins & Sells and then joined the Corporate Finance division of Schroders. Following a 14 year career in corporate finance, Simon left banking to focus on helping create and run start-up companies.
He is passionate about science and, as an Ri Patron, has been a keen supporter of the Royal Institution, having attended lectures and short courses and, of course, a keen viewer of the online videos. Simon is also a Patron of the Science Museum and a supporter of the Hampstead Theatre.
About the Royal Institution
The Royal Institution’s (Ri) purpose is to harness science for the maximum benefit of society. Home to eminent scientists such as Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy and Kathleen Lonsdale, its discoveries have helped to shape the modern world. Just as importantly these scientists recognised the importance of sharing their work with the wider public.
Today it continues its mission as a registered charity providing science education and heritage activities for people of all ages and backgrounds across the UK and around the world. These activities include the world-famous CHRISTMAS LECTURES; public talks from the world's greatest thinkers in its historic lecture theatre; a national programme of Ri Masterclasses for young people in mathematics, engineering and computer science; hands-on science workshops in its L'Oréal Young Scientist Centre; animations and films from its award-winning Ri Channel and the preservation of its scientific legacy through the Faraday Museum and archival collections.