Inaugural talk by the new Friends of Imperial College Chair
Professor David Southwood CBE - former Chair of UK Space Agency, Director of Science & Robotic Exploration ESA and various NASA projects, current Senior Research Investigator, Dept. of Physics, Imperial College London - and now Chair & Trustee of Friends. Recorded Feb 2021.
Almost by chance, David came to Imperial as a student in the sixties. He arrived in the early days of the space age, gaining a PhD in Space Physics in 1969. He joined the Physics faculty in 1971 and has had some connection with Imperial ever since.
He still cannot believe his luck.
In this lecture he described some of the changes he took part in in the College, including the evolution of the Space and Atmospheric Physics group he founded in the 80s as well as developments College-wide when he was Head of Physics.
Right from his earliest days, he learnt that Imperial provided an environment for making an impact on the world outside. Working at the College would give him a springboard to participate in space research with the American, Russian and even Chinese programmes before he took secondment to make great use of his Imperial heritage during his time at the European Space Agency.
In today’s connected world, space has never been more important. Currently, with colleagues in Imperial’s college wide SpaceLab and the London Institute of Space Policy and Law, he has been seeking to bring Imperial’s technical expertise to bear on national space policy.