Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

In recognition of his ‘generous benefaction’, the University of Cambridge announced on Tuesday that its chemistry department will be named after Indian pharmaceutical major Cipla’s non-executive chairman Yusuf Hamied until 2050. Dr Hamied is a former alumnus of the world-renowned university and made a ‘transformational gift’ to his alma mater to ensure that chemistry at Cambridge University will continue to be “world-leading in both teaching and research”.

His 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. The department would be known as Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.

Hamied has retained close links with the UK university over the past 66 years, as a supporter of his own 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 Hamied’s time at Cambridge as an undergraduate and PhD student.

Hamied’s achievements listed by the university 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 organizations at affordable prices, making treatment more accessible, the university notes.