Sir Robert Keith O'Nions (born 26 September 1944), is a British scientist and ex-President & Rector of

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. He is the former Director General of the

Research Councils UK Research Councils UK, sometimes known as RCUK, was a non-departmental public body that coordinated science policy in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2018. It was an umbrella organisation that coordinated the seven separate research councils ...

as well as Professor of the Physics and Chemistry of Minerals and Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

.Professor Sir Keith O'Nions FRS

Imperial College, London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, UK.

Early life

O'Nions attended Yardley Grammar School in Birmingham. He studied geology as an undergraduate at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, and completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

before taking up a postdoctoral position at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

Career

O'Nions taught geochemistry at the

from 1971 to 1975, before moving to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

as Professor of Geology. In 1979 when he was appointed

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 ...

Research Professor at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He remained in Cambridge until 1995, when he returned to Oxford to take up the Professorship of Physics and Chemistry of Minerals. He was

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed in 1999, and from 2000 to 2004 he was

Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence The Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK's Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence is responsible for providing strategic management of science and technology issues in the MOD, most directly through the MOD research budget of well o ...

. After a period as Director-General of the

, he was appointed to lead the newly formed Institute for Security Science and Technology at

in July 2008. On 1 January 2010, following the resignation of Sir Roy Anderson, he became acting Rector of Imperial College London, and in July 2010 he was appointed to a full term as Rector, to run until September 2014.`

Honours and awards

Awards

In 1979, O'Nions was awarded the James B Macelwane Award by the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

, followed in 1983 with the

Bigsby Medal The Bigsby Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London established by John Jeremiah Bigsby. Recipients SourcThe Geological Society See also * List of geology awards * Prizes named after people This is a list of awards that are na ...

of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

. In 1985, O'Nions was name
Hallimond Lecturer
by the Mineralogical Society and in 1986, was named both UK-Canada

Rutherford Lecture The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

r by the

and William Smith Lecturer by the

. O'Nions was further name
Ingerson Lecturer
by the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

in 1990. In 1995 he was awarded the Arthur Holmes Medal by the European Union of Geosciences and the Lyell Medal by the

. In 1998, Australian National University named O'Nions as Jaeger-Hales Lecturer, while in 2001 he won the

Urey Medal The Urey Medal is given annually by the European Association of Geochemistry for outstanding contributions advancing Geochemistry over a career. The award is named after the physical chemist Harold Urey, FRS. Urey Medalists See also * List ...

, presented by the

European Association of Geochemistry The European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) is a pan-European organization founded to promotes geochemical research. The EAG organizes conferences, meetings and educational courses for geochemists in Europe, including the Goldschmidt Conference w ...

. He was named Bruce Peller Prize Lecturer by the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 2004, and appointed as a HonFREng of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

in 2005. He is a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

. In September 2017 he was appointed by

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

as Chair of the new

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

board. O'Nions served on the Board of A*Star, Singapore from 2013 to 2021, was Chair of Cambridge Enterprise from 2014 to 2020 and is Chair of Council,

Personal life

In 1967 he married Rita Bill with who he has had three daughters.

References

External links

Biography
Department of Trade and Industry
Imperial College press release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onions, Keith Living people 1944 births Alumni of the University of Nottingham University of Alberta alumni British geologists Academics of the University of Oxford Columbia University faculty Academics of the University of Cambridge Chief Scientific Advisers to the Ministry of Defence Academics of Imperial College London Rectors of Imperial College London Honorary Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Knights Bachelor Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Lyell Medal winners Presidents of Imperial College London