Ian Walmsley appointed Provost of Imperial College London

Professor Walmsley is Hooke Professor of Experimental Physics at Oxford and a Fellow of St. Hugh’s College. A world-renowned expert in ultrafast and quantum optics, his research has led to advances in fields as diverse as spectroscopy, cryptography, quantum computing, and precision measurement.

Professor Ian Walmsley

Credit: John Cairns

He told his Oxford colleagues:

“I have really enjoyed my time at Oxford: it has been an exceptional experience in teaching, in research and in academic administration. I’ve made many good friends among students, academic colleagues and staff, and will be sad to leave such a wonderful institution. Nevertheless, it will be exciting to return to where I began my university-based career and to contribute to the UK’s research and educational pre-eminence in new ways.”

Professor Walmsley leads the Networked Quantum Information Technologies Hub, which is building the core elements of a quantum computer. He also headed up the creation of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, a national multidisciplinary research centre led by the University of Oxford.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Louise Richardson congratulated him on his appointment:

“Ian has made an enormous contribution to academic life in Oxford during his seventeen years here. As Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research for the past nine years he has led our stellar results in the Research Excellence Framework as well as our innovation and knowledge exchange strategy. A distinguished physicist, he has also been a valued member of the senior team and we are all going to miss him. We all wish him well at Imperial.”

Ian Walmsley graduated from Imperial with first class honours in physics and has enjoyed long standing ties with the college. He will take up his new leadership role at his alma mater in September 2018.