Keith Burnett

Sir

Keith Burnett
Sir Keith Burnett, August 2018
Born30 September 1953 (1953-09-30) (age 70)
Llwynypia, Wales
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (BA, DPhil)
AwardsYoung Medal and Prize (1997)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Sheffield
University of Oxford
University of Colorado
Imperial College

Sir Keith Burnett, CBE,[1] FRS FLSW[2] FINSTP (born 30 September 1953)[3] is a British physicist and President Elect of the Institute of Physics. He is Chair of the Nuffield Foundation[4] — an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance educational opportunity and social well-being, founding Chair of the Academic Council the Schmidt Science Fellows,[5] and a member of the Board of international education providers Study Group.[6]

Burnett is past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield.[7] Burnett announced his retirement in January 2018 and he stepped down in September of that year[8] when he was succeeded by Koen Lamberts.[9] He received an Honorary degree from the University of Sheffield in July 2022.[10] He is an honorary fellow of Jesus College, Oxford[11] and St John's College, Oxford[12] where he was a tutorial fellow for 20 years.

Burnett has a long-standing commitment to vocational and technical education, advocating for the development of high-level vocational education and apprenticeships[13] and serving as the President of the Science Council[14] and on the board of the National Technician Development Centre and of Heated.

Biography

Burnett was born in Llwynypia in the Rhondda Valley. He studied Physics at Jesus College, Oxford obtaining a BA degree in 1975 then a DPhil degree in 1979. He held academic positions in Physics at the University of Colorado, Imperial College and the University of Oxford before taking up the role of vice chancellor at the University of Sheffield in 2007.[7] During his time at the University of Oxford he was appointed Chairman of Physics and then Head of the Division of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences.[15] His research includes the study of Bose–Einstein condensates.

Memberships

He was Chair of the board of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) from October 2009 to September 2011.[16]

On 1 November 2010 he was appointed as a non-executive director of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority,[17] a position he was due to hold until October 2013.[18]

He is also currently a member of the United Kingdom government's Council for Science and Technology,[18] and in September 2016 was elected president of the Science Council.[19] He was appointed to the Advisory Council of Infrastructure UK in 2012 to advise the UK treasury on investments including on energy, transport, waste, flood, science, water and telecoms.[15] In March 2015 he joined the management board of HEFCE.[20] In 2021 he was elected President-elect of the Institute of Physics, serving on the IoP Council until taking up the post of President in 2023.[21]

Personal

He is married and has two children. His interests include the Chinese language and culture.[15]

Honours

He was awarded the Young Medal and Prize in 1997 for his physics research[22] and in 2001 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[15] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2004 for services to physics,[23] and knighted for services to science and higher education in the 2013 New Year Honours.[24][25]In 2013, he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.[26]

External links

  • Scientific Commons Keith Burnett

References

  1. ^ Sheffield, University of (29 December 2012). "Knighthood for University of Sheffield Vice-Chancellor Professor Keith Burnett – Archive – News archive – The University of Sheffield". www.sheffield.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  2. ^ Wales, The Learned Society of. "Keith Burnett". The Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Birthdays". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media. 30 September 2014. p. 35.
  4. ^ "Our People | About". Nuffield Foundation. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Professor Sir Keith Burnett CBE FRS". Schmidt Science Fellows. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  6. ^ "The Board | About Study Group". www.studygroup.com. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b University of Sheffield press release 19 Dec 2006
  8. ^ "Online Services". University of Sheffield. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  9. ^ Sheffield, University of. "University appoints Professor Koen Lamberts as President and Vice-Chancellor – Latest news – Staff – The University of Sheffield". University of Sheffield. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Honorary graduates". www.sheffield.ac.uk. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Professor Sir Keith Burnett Kt, CBE, FRS, FInstP". Jesus College. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Sir Keith Burnett". St John's College. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  13. ^ Burnett, Kieth (2015). "The future of higher vocational education: advanced apprenticeships: uniting universities and industry in manufacturing the UK's economic future". VOCEDplus.
  14. ^ "Sir Keith Burnett to be new Science Council President". The Science Council ~. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d www.sheffield.ac.uk Biography: Professor Keith Burnet
  16. ^ www.ucea.ac.uk UCEA announces new chair of board
  17. ^ www.uk-atomic-energy.org.uk UKAEA Corporate Governance
  18. ^ a b www.bis.gov.uk/cst/ UK Council for Science and Technology – Members
  19. ^ "Sir Keith Burnett to be new Science Council President". The Science Council. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  20. ^ HEFCE News 27 March 2015
  21. ^ "New IOP Council members take up posts".
  22. ^ Institute of Physics Archived 18 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Young medal recipients
  23. ^ The Times (online) 31 December 2003
  24. ^ "Knights Bachelor" (PDF). Cabinet Office. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  25. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 1.
  26. ^ Wales, The Learned Society of. "Keith Burnett". The Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
Academic offices
Preceded by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield
2007–2018
Succeeded by
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