Cambridge University To Name Its Chemistry Department As “Yusuf Hamied Department Of Chemistry”

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Dr. Yusuf Hamied. Photo Credit: Cambridge University wesbite.

Dr Yusuf Hamied is chairman of Cipla, a multinational Indian pharmaceutical company and an alumnus of Cambridge University. Cipla was founded by his father Dr K A Hamied.

Kashif Ahmad Faraz | India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—The University of Cambridge in London has announced that its Department of Chemistry will be named after Cipla’s chairman Dr. Yusuf Hamied.

According to a news bulletin posted on the website of the University on Tuesday, the chemistry department will be named as Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry until 2050.

Dr Hamied is an alumnus of the Cambridge University and Cipla is India’s leading multinational pharmaceuticals manufacturer with its annual turnover for 2019-20 reported at Rs. 13595 crores and net proft over Rs.2300 crores.

This honour has been conferred on Cipla and Dr Hamied following “transformational gift” or donation by Dr Hamied to the university “to ensure that chemistry at Cambridge will continue to be world-leading in both teaching and research”.

Accepting the gift, Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen J. Toope said, “Dr Hamied’s leadership gift endows both a fund to attract and support the world’s brightest academic talent in chemistry, including exceptional early career researchers in disciplines such as synthetic organic chemistry, and outstanding doctoral students from the UK and around the world through the new Hamied Scholars Programme”.

“Yusuf Hamied has demonstrated an unequivocal commitment to changing and improving lives since his time at Cambridge. I am profoundly grateful for his remarkable gift to the Department of Chemistry, which will benefit generations of students and researchers”, the Vice-Chancellor said.

Expressing thanks to Dr. Hamied for his gift to his alma mater, Head of Chemistry Department, Dr Kames Keeler, said, “We are extremely thankful to Dr Hamied for his visionary support for Chemistry at Cambridge which will allow us to respond flexibly to future opportunities. His gift will ensure we continue to attract outstanding scientists who will make the discoveries that help tackle some of the most pressing challenges in global society.”

“Cambridge gave me the foundation of an education in chemistry, taught me how to live and showed me how to contribute to society,” Cambridge website has quoted Dr Hamied having said while contributing for the scholarship programme of the Cambridge. “As a scholarship student myself, I am delighted to be able to support future generations of students. I will always be indebted to this great institution and everything it stands for”, quotes the website from a statement of Hamied.

According to the website, Dr Hamied has retained close links with Cambridge over the past 66 years, as a supporter of his College — Christ’s — and the Department of Chemistry. In 2018, he endowed one of the world’s oldest academic Chairs in Chemistry, now known as the Yusuf Hamied 1702 Chair. His academic mentor and supervisor, Nobel Laureate Lord Alexander Todd, held the Chair during Dr Hamied’s time at Cambridge as an undergraduate and PhD student.

“Among Dr Hamied’s many honours are an honorary fellowship of Christ’s College in 2004; the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest Indian civilian awards in 2005; an honorary fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2012; and an honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Cambridge in 2014. In 2019, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy”, says the website.

Dr. Hamied is currently executive chairman of Cipla, a global pharmaceutical company founded by his father Dr. K A Hamied, in Mumbai. Dr. Yusuf Hamied’s major achievements include the pioneering supply of HIV/AIDS medicines to developing countries at a low cost, saving countless lives. To help patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cipla is again providing medicines to healthcare organisations at affordable prices, making treatment more accessible.

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