Educated at the University of Southern California and Princeton University. 1985-2001, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, and affiliated with the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. 2001-06, Vice-President, Research and Associate Provost and Robert T. Haslam Chair in Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2006-14, President, Lehigh University. Since 2014, President, Imperial College London. Member: Board of Directors, Chevron Corporation; Board of Trustees, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST); Academic Research Council, Singapore Ministry of Education; Board Member, UK Research & Innovation. United States Science Envoy to the Caucasus and Central Asia. Co-Author of numerous scientific publications and a classic textbook on colloid and surface phenomena. Academic interest: surface and interfacial phenomena, in particular the behaviour of complex fluids.