Jeremy Sanders - Biography#

Sanders took his B.Sc. in Chemistry at Imperial College, London (1969) and PhD at the University of Cambridge (1972).

After a postdoctoral year at Stanford he returned to an academic post in Cambridge in 1973. He became full Professor in 1996, and was Head of Chemistry, then Head of Physical Sciences and finally Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) until his formal retirement in 2015. His responsibilities as PVC included: the wellbeing of 11,000 staff (particularly Equality and Diversity); a new environment and sustainability policy for the University; and a major property development (“Eddington”) ultimately providing 3000 homes in a prize-winning, sustainable and high-quality extension to the city in North-West Cambridge.

In the UK he served on the Leverhulme Trust Advisory Panel 2000–05, and on Chemistry panels for Research Assessment 2001–2014, including as Chair 2004–2008, and in several editorial and board roles for the RSC’s publications.

In the Netherlands, he served on the International Supervisory Board of the National Research Consortium on Catalysis (1999–2008), and was a member of the International Review Committee for Chemistry in Dutch universities (2009–10).

In Spain, he was on the Scientific Board, Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia, Tarragona (2002–13).

In Switzerland he was President of the “Bürgenstock” Conference, and has delivered several Troisieme Cycle and Swiss Chemical Society lecture tours.

He is a member of the International Advisory Board for Gender and Diversity, University of Southern Denmark.

He is one of the “175 Faces” recognized by the Royal Society of Chemistry for contributions to Equality and Diversity and is Chair of the UK Athena Forum, which advocates for diversity.

He is research active, is the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of Royal Society Open Science, an innovative journal, and is a member of the Council of Imperial College. He is Chair of Storey’s Field Community Trust, which is responsible for developing the community in Eddington.