Professor Champness joins the prestigious group of Commissioners, following approval by HRH The Princess Royal, President of the Commission.
Originally founded to organise the Great Exhibition of 1851, a Royal Charter created a permanent body to invest the substantial profits from the exhibition. Initially the Commission purchased land in South Kensington and established what is known as ‘Albertopolis’, named after Prince Albert who instigated the 1851 Great Exhibition. Albertopolis remains the home of the Royal Albert Hall, three national museums, as well as the Royal Colleges of Art and Music and Imperial College. The commission continues to own the freehold of, and manage, much of the Albertopolis estate. Today the 1851 Royal Commission principally acts as a Research and Education Foundation, awarding some 35 postgraduate Fellowships and Scholarships annually for advanced study and research in science, engineering, the built environment and design whilst also supporting STEM education projects in primary, secondary and further education.
Commissioners act as trustees, overseeing the Commission's work. They are responsible for selecting the annual fellowships, studentships, prizes and special projects which 'increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry'.
Professor Champness is the Head of the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham. His work specialises in supramolecular chemistry, metal-organic frameworks, mechanically-interlocked molecules and surface self-assembly. Professor Champness is also the Norman Haworth Professor of Chemistry, named after one of the University of Birmingham’s Nobel Prize winners, Norman Haworth, who happened to start his career with a fellowship from the 1851 Royal Commission.
Professor Neil Champness said: “It is a great honour to be appointed as a Royal Commissioner for the ‘1851’. It has been suggested that Prince Albert was inspired by his visit to a smaller exhibition in Birmingham in 1849 and that this led to the 1851 Great Exhibition. It feels appropriate that Birmingham maintains strong links to the Commission and I am delighted to take on that role as a Commissioner.”
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, educators and more than 40,000 students from over 150 countries.
Head of School
Staff profile for Professor Neil Champness.
