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Race to the top - Lord Sainsbury at the University of Kent

Lord (David) Sainsbury of Turville gave a Special Guest Lecture at the University of Kent's Canterbury campus on Wednesday 5 March.

Based on his review for the government, he looked to the future on how the UK can continue to be successful both in scientific research but also in innovation. He was very positive about the ability of universities in the UK not only to undertake internationally competitive research but also to patent, license and spin out their ideas in order to compete in the new global economy.

Lord Sainsbury was the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Science within the Department of Trade and Industry from 1998 to 2006. He has had a long and distinguished career as a businessman and is also a well known philanthropist.

Professor Julia Goodfellow, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent, was among those who attended Lord Sainsbury's lecture.

Vice-Chancellor Goodfellow said: 'I was pleased to see how many people both from the University and the local community came to hear Lord Sainsbury. He gave a very upbeat presentation on the ability of the UK to respond in the areas of science and innovation while recognising that we have to improve in some areas.'

Vice-Chancellor Goodfellow added that: 'The University of Kent is particularly keen to be seen as an outward facing university and has developed strong links with the local business community.'

Lord Sainsbury of Turville was educated at Eton and at Cambridge, where he began by reading history but became fascinated by science. He graduated in 1963 with a BA in psychology. In 1971, he received his MBA from Columbia's Graduate School of Business. He joined his family's supermarket business after graduation, rising to become finance director and then chairman and chief executive.

In 1997, Columbia University honoured Lord Sainsbury with its prestigious Botwinick Prize in business ethics, which is awarded to leaders who display exemplary ethical practices in management and leadership. That same year, Tony Blair made him Lord Sainsbury of Turville and, a year later, appointed him as Minister for Science & Technology, a post he held until 2007.

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 12:00pm 7 March 2008