Hamied: I would like to bring Cambridge University to India
CIPLA CHIEF HOPES PROPOSED MOVE WILL BENEFIT MUTUAL RESEARCH IN NEW VACCINES
CAMBRIDGE is considering whether it should establish a physical presence in India, according to Dr Yusuf Hamied, head of the Indian pharmaceutical company, Cipla.
Hamied has maintained close links with the university since he did his degree and PhD in chemistry at Christ’s College between 1954 and 1960.
Last Thursday (7), there was a formal plaque unveiling ceremony in Cambridge where the chemistry department in Lensfield Road was named after Hamied in recognition of his generous support. There was a virtual renaming ceremony on November 30, 2020, but the actual event took place last week at the department.
University vice-chancellor Prof Stephen Toope presided over the ceremony in the presence of many distinguished chemistry professors, among them James Keeler and Jeremy Sanders, current and past heads of the chemistry department, and Sir Shankar Balasubramanian, who is doing cutting edge research in cancer treatment.
Standing on the steps of the building, which he had first entered as a PhD student “65 years ago” and which was inaugurated by Princess Margaret in 1958, Hamied told the gathering: “In 1957, I was among the first students here to enter the gates of this department to do my practicals in organic chemistry. I would now like to pledge my continuing support to the university, Christ’s College, the department of chemistry in whatever way is possible.”
He added: “This pledge pertains not only to what we do in Cambridge, but I would also like to initiate something that Cambridge should do in India. There is a chemistry fund that has been established in perpetuity, which will enable the advancement of science and chemistry within this department, where you will continue to play a major global role.”
Afterwards, Eastern Eye asked Hamied to explain what he wanted Cambridge to do in India.
In the past, Hamied has made it possible for British academics to visit India through the auspices of the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry, but he now wants Cambridge to set up a campus or establishment in India to which it lends its name.
Cambridge has a long-standing policy not to “dilute” its brand by setting up overseas. However, such are the pressures on British universities that more than 30 of them have done just that.
The members of “Universities UK International” include Birmingham, Coventry, Glasgow Caledonian, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Kent, Lancaster, Leicester De Montfort, Liverpool, Middlesex, Newcastle, Nottingham, Queen Mary London, Queen’s University Belfast, Reading, Southampton and Westminster.
Hamied pointed out that Tata, who made a $50 million (£42m) donation to Harvard, have succeeded in persuading Harvard Business School to open in India. The India Research Centre in Mumbai, which opened in 2006, is the arm of the Harvard Business School.
Hamied told Eastern Eye: “What I would like to do is to bring Cambridge University to India and see what they can do in India, particularly in science and technology and to see whether some research work done in Cambridge could be implemented in India.
“I’ll give an example. Cambridge is developing an advanced vaccine for future variants of Covid. So can that knowhow come to India?”
He believes there could be mutual benefit if there is collaboration between Cambridge and the government of India and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research it set up in 1942.
But will Cambridge, which has built its global brand over more than 800 years, be willing to change? “Cambridge is right now debating it,” revealed Hamied. “We are going to have brainstorming sessions in the next couple of months. And then they’re taking it forward from there.”
If there is a change of heart in Cambridge, “it will be a research and teaching institute set up in India.” But will it be called Cambridge University?
“Yes,” said Hamied, “otherwise, what is the fun? Cambridge can have degree courses in India. Why not? Like what the Tatas have done in India with Harvard Business School.”
With input from the chemistry department, Hamied said, “we can aim at newer drugs, developed in Cambridge, coming to India. It’s similar to what the Serum Institute of India has done with the Oxford vaccine.”
In his speech, Hamied said, “My personal mission has been to save lives and provide access to quality, affordable medicines for all, and that none should be denied medication.
“I sincerely believe proper and sustained health care, particularly in the developing and emerging world, is a fundamental human right. And I think all of us here should work towards that.”
He added a personal note: “We breathe the air that previous scholars like (Charles) Darwin and (John) Milton, from our Christ’s College, inhaled. We hope that will stimulate us in the future, particularly in the chemistry department. I consider myself as an integral part of Cambridge history and legacy.”
The vice-chancellor said as a result of the Hamied scholars’ programme, “chemistry at Cambridge will continue to lead the world in both teaching and research. And we were delighted to rename the department in his honour as the Yusuf Hamid Department of Chemistry, a first in Cambridge history.”
Toope spoke of the “transformative philanthropy” that had come via the foundation set up by Hamied and his wife, Farida.
“Transformative philanthropy means that our collective work will continue and expand. We see around us changes that are being made possible by this gift. We know that chemistry at Cambridge has an exciting future that you have helped to ensure.
“Visionary philanthropy will always be critical to Cambridge’s future and our impact in the world. It opens doors and, even more important, it challenges us to walk through
them and be the best that we can. It keeps us right at the cutting edge of ideas and innovation that will change all our lives for the better. One of philanthropy’s great strengths is its support of free and independent thought, imagination and risk-taking that lead to genuine invention and innovation.
“And it’s often harder for that to take place through standard granting processes. Philanthropy makes a fundamental difference.”
The vice-chancellor told Hamied: “The difference you’ve made will be felt for many generations to come.”
Keeler, who has been the head of the chemistry department since 2018, said: “Through Yusuf’s generosity, we’ve been able to establish a fund. It enables us to bring the best and brightest to the department. It means we can bring the best graduate students, recruit the best new lecturers and the best new professors. So this is really very important to us for moving our research forward, now and in the future.”
The naming ceremony was preceded by a reception in the “Todd-Hamied Room”, named after Lord Alexander Todd, a distinguished chemist who admitted 18-year-old Yusuf to Christ’s in 1954 from (then) Bombay without any A-levels.
Keeler’s sentiments were echoed by Sanders, who headed the department from 2006-2006: “This room, the Todd-Hamid Room, is, in many ways, the emotional heart of the department now. Research groups come here. And they have their weekly meetings, Shankar’s group and many other groups meet here. This is the room where ideas are discussed, where ideas foment, and the next set of advances begin here in discussion.”