Advisor

Tom Welton

Tom Welton OBE FRSC FCGI is Professor of Sustainable Chemistry at Imperial College London. Sustainable Chemistry is both the implementation of sustainability in the production and use of chemicals (Green Chemistry) and the application of chemistry and chemical products to enable sustainable development. The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a framework for the creation of a sustainable common future, in which all the world’s needs are met without compromising the abilities of future generations to provide for their needs. The chemical sciences and chemical scientists have much to offer to all of the SDGs. Tom is a former President of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2020-2022), during which he championed the contribution of the Chemical Sciences to achieving a sustainable future.

Tom is the author of over 150 research papers across the range of inorganic, organic and physical chemistry journals, mostly on the structures and chemistry of ionic liquids and solutes in these. He is particularly interested in using ionic liquids for the conversion of biomass to chemicals and materials.

He is widely acknowledged to be a champion of diversity in science and was head of department when the Chemistry department at Imperial College won its first Athena SWAN Gold award. Together with Alison Roger of the University of Warwick, he founded the Irene Juliot-Curie conference series. He is a L’Oréal-UNESCO Male Champion for Women in Science, a member of Elsevier’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion advisory board. In recognition of these activities, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2017.

Advisor - Tom Welton

Tom Welton

Tom Welton is Professor of Sustainable Chemistry at Imperial College London.

Meet some of our other innovation advisors

  • David Fox
    David Fox
    David Fox
    Advisor
    David Fox, Vulpine Science and Learning
  • Advisor - Professor Michael Mann
    Professor Michael Mann
    Professor Michael Mann
    Advisor
    Michael Mann is a Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania
  • Tom Mansfield
    Tom Mansfield
    Tom Mansfield
    Advisor
    Tom's main areas of focus are Climate, Technology and Organisational Development, all of which are wrapped in the frame of ‘Planetary Health’
  • Catherine Willan
    Catherine Willan
    Catherine Willan
    Advisor
    Lecturer in the Institute for Sustainable Resources at University College London