Sir Keith Burnett,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, FRS

FLSW The Learned Society of Wales ( Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru) is a learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh natio ...

(born 30 September 1953) is a British

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and President Elect of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

. He is Chair of the

Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...

— an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance educational opportunity and social well-being, founding Chair of the Academic Council the Schmidt Science Fellows, and a member of the Board of international education providers

Study Group A study group is a small group of people who regularly meet to discuss shared fields of study. These groups can be found in a high school or college/university setting, within companies, occasionally primary/junior school and sometimes middle sch ...

. Burnett is past Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

.University of Sheffield press release 19 Dec 2006
/ref> Burnett announced his retirement in January 2018 and he stepped down in September of that year when he was succeeded by

Koen Lamberts Koenraad Lamberts (born 1964) is a British/Belgian psychologist and academic. Since 2018, he has served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield. From 2014 to 2018, he was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of York. Prev ...

. He received an

Honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from the University of Sheffield in July 2022. He is an honorary fellow of

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

where he was a tutorial fellow for 20 years. Burnett has a long-standing commitment to vocational and technical education, advocating for the development of high-level vocational education and apprenticeships and serving as the President of the Science Council and on the board of the National Technician Development Centre and of Heated.

Biography

Burnett was born in

Llwynypia Llwynypia ( cy, Llwynypia ) is a village and community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a popu ...

in the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ('' ...

Valley. He studied

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

obtaining a BA degree in 1975 then a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degree in 1979. He held academic positions in Physics at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

before taking up the role of vice chancellor at the University of Sheffield in 2007. During his time at the University of Oxford he was appointed Chairman of Physics and then Head of the Division of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences.www.sheffield.ac.uk
Biography: Professor Keith Burnet His research includes the study of

Bose–Einstein condensate In condensed matter physics, a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that is typically formed when a gas of bosons at very low densities is cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero (−273.15 °C or −459.67&n ...

Memberships

He was Chair of the board of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (

UCEA Ucea (german: Gassendorf; hu, Alsóucsa) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Corbi (''Korb''), Feldioara (''Barcaföldvár''), Ucea de Jos (the commune center) and Ucea de Sus (''Felsőucsa''). ...

) from October 2009 to September 2011.www.ucea.ac.uk
UCEA announces new chair of board On 1 November 2010 he was appointed as a non-executive director of the

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ...

,www.uk-atomic-energy.org.uk
UKAEA Corporate Governance a position he was due to hold until October 2013.www.bis.gov.uk/cst/
UK Council for Science and Technology – Members He is also currently a member of the United Kingdom government's

Council for Science and Technology The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government. Its role is to give advice on issues that cut across government departments to the Prime Minister, the First Minister of ...

, and in September 2016 was elected president of the

Science Council The Science Council is a UK organisation that was established by Royal Charter in 2003. The principal activity of The Science Council is the promotion of the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of and education in science pure and applie ...

. He was appointed to the Advisory Council of

Infrastructure UK Infrastructure UK (IUK) was a division of HM Treasury within the Treasury's Public Services and Growth Directorate, which advised the UK government on the long-term infrastructure needs of the UK and provided commercial expertise to support major ...

in 2012 to advise the UK treasury on investments including on energy, transport, waste, flood, science, water and telecoms. In March 2015 he joined the management board of

HEFCE The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

.HEFCE News
27 March 2015 In 2021 he was elected President-elect of the

, serving on the IoP Council until taking up the post of President in 2023.

Personal

He is married and has two children. His interests include the Chinese language and culture.

Honours

He was awarded the

Young Medal and Prize The Institute of Physics awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for PhD thesis submissions. Bilateral awards * The Max B ...

in 1997 for his physics researchInstitute of Physics
Young medal recipients and in 2001 was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 2004 for services to physics, and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

for services to science and higher education in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

External links

Scientific Commons
Keith Burnett

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Keith British physicists Welsh physicists Fellows of the Royal Society Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Academics of Imperial College London Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford University of Colorado faculty Living people 1953 births People from Llwynypia People educated at Ysgol Brynteg 20th-century British physicists 20th-century Welsh scientists 21st-century British physicists 21st-century Welsh scientists Fellows of the American Physical Society