Six Imperial Academics make rich list
Profs. John Kilner (bottom) and Nigel Brandon (top) were included in a THES academic rich list, along with four other Imperial colleagues.
Six Imperial academics have been included in the first ever `academic rich list' recently compiled by the Times Higher Educational Supplement, listing over a hundred of the most successful entrepreneurs. The survey, the first of its kind, revealed dozens of multi-millionaire professors who have made their fortunes through spin-off companies, entrepreneurial ventures and inventions.
The list included Professor Nigel Brandon, of Earth Science and Engineering, and Professor John Kilner, of Materials Science, both here at Imperial. They co-founded Ceres Power, a technology and development company which raised £16 million when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market in November 2004.
Academics are now making more from commercial ventures than ever before. Several on the list have made their millions in the last year, such as Stephen Jackson, a Cambridge biologist who founded KuDOS Pharmaceuticals.
There has been a culture change in universities; not long ago, academics would have had to leave academia if they wanted to get involved with commercial activities, but now academics are being encouraged to reap the rewards of commercialising their ideas. According to the University Companies Association, UK universities in the last two years have spun off 20 companies with a combined share value of £1 billion.
However, for some academic millionaires, it is still as hard as ever to take financial advantage of their ideas. Andy Hopper, a computing professor at Cambridge, who cofounded Acorn Computers, said, “The universities and the vice chancellors are against you. This is shown by the cuts that the universities take from the spin-offs.” But Professor John Kilner disagrees, he told Felix, “This is not true at Imperial. We received a great deal of support, Imperial Innovations (the company set up by College to encourage commercialisation of academic work) helped with the launch. It wasn’t perfect but it was helpful. The College has certainly encouraged the climate of innovations.
“Such companies provide inspiration for students, and future employment for graduates. It shows that we can take our ideas out of the workplace, and that graduate employment need not be purely research.”
One thing that remains clear about these successful entrepreneurs is that their top priority is to invent and to see their ideas evolve and develop. Their roles as educators will always come first and making money second.
Robin Daniels, Chief Executive of Norwich Park, said, “These academics are leaders in their field who are able to think beyond the lab. They are highly motivated and commercially astute people with a vision as to how their research can be applied.”
