Imperial College London

The origins of Imperial College London (ICL) can be traced back to the Royal College of Chemistry, founded in 1845. In 1853, this school was merged with the Royal School of Mines, established two years previously.

The modern Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ICL’s official name) was established by royal charter in 1907 through merger of the Royal School of Mines with the Royal College of Chemistry and the City and Guilds College.

Imperial College Medical School was formed in 1988 through merger with St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School (itself dating back to 1845), while in 2004 a brand-new Imperial College Business School opened its doors.

It is important to note that in 1907 ICL merged with the University of London for administrative purposes, while retaining its own identity as to curriculum, faculty, staff, and students. In 2007, on the one-hundredth anniversary of obtaining its royal charter, ICL became completely independent once again.

Today, ICL has a combined faculty and staff of more than 8000 serving a student population of over 19,000.

ICL can boast 14 Nobel laureates, three Fields Medalists, and 1 Turing Award–winner, some of whom are listed below. Other distinguished ICL linked individuals are listed below:

Fine Arts and Literature

• Classical musician, composer, Kit Armstrong
• Popular musician, Brian May
• Novelist, essayist, H.G. Wells

Humanities and Social Sciences

• Philosopher, Kenan Malik

Film, Photography, and Performing Arts

• Actor, Navin Chowdhry

Media, Law, and Public Affairs

• Former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi
• Physician, missionary, explorer, David Livingstone

STEM Disciplines

• Space scientist, Maggie Aderin-Pocock
• Physicist, Nobel laureate, Patrick Blackett
• Physicist, William Crookes
• Mathematician, Fields Medalist, Simon Donaldson
• Physicist, Michael Duff
• Microbiologist, Nobel laureate, Alexander Fleming
• Electrical engineer, John Ambrose Fleming
• Mathematician, Fields Medalist, Martin Hairer
• Biochemist, Nobel laureate, Norman Haworth
• Physical chemist, Nobel laureate, Cyril Hinshelwood
• Biochemist, Nobel laureate, Frederick Gowland Hopkins
• Physiologist, Nobel laureate, Andrew Huxley
• Comparative anatomist, Thomas Henry Huxley
• Physicist, Norman Lockyer
• Physicist, Yuval Ne’eman
• Mathematician, physicist, William Penney
• Chemist, William Henry Perkin
• Biochemist, Nobel laureate, Rodney Robert Porter
• Mathematician, Fields Medalist, Klaus Roth
• Physicist, Nobel laureate, Abdus Salam
• Computer scientist, Turing Award winner, Leslie Valiant
• Computer engineer, Kevin Warwick
• Chemist, Nobel laureate, Geoffrey Wilkinson

Imperial College London's most influential alumni faculty include professors and professionals in the fields of Engineering, Earth Sciences, and Chemistry. Imperial College London’s most academically influential people include Donald Davies, David Irving, and Alexander Fleming.