The Rector of Imperial College is the highest academic official of Imperial College London

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

. The Rector is the chief executive, elected by the Council of the college and Chairman of the Senate. The position is currently head on an interim basis by Keith O'Nions

Keith O'Nions

Sir Robert Keith O'Nions , is a British scientist and current Rector of the Imperial College London. He is the former Director General of the Research Councils as well as Professor of the Physics and Chemistry of Minerals and was head of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of...

 after the resignation of Roy Anderson

Roy Anderson (zoologist)

Sir Roy Malcolm Anderson FRS is a leading British expert on epidemiology. He has mathematically modelled the spread of diseases such as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and AIDS...

 in November 2009. The post at Imperial College currently has the second highest salary of all UK university heads, behind the Dean of London Business School

London Business School

London Business School is an international business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London, located in central London, beside Regent's Park...

. Richard Sykes and Roy Anderson had a salary of £429,000 between them for the year 2007–08, this was a 23.3% rise from £348,000 in the previous year.

The Rector's residence is a large house on Queen's Gate

Queen's Gate

Queen's Gate is a major street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs from Kensington Road south, intersecting with Cromwell Road, and then on to Old Brompton Road....

, at the southwest corner of the college's campus in South Kensington

South Kensington

South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

List of Rectors

• 1908 Henry Bovey
  Henry Bovey
  Henry Taylor Bovey, LLD, DCL, FRS was an engineering science academic. He was the first Rector of Imperial College of Science and Technology in London....
  
  
• 1910 Alfred Keogh
  Alfred Keogh
  Sir Alfred Henry Keogh, GCB, GCVO, CH was a medical doctor in the British Army.Born in Dublin, the son of Henry Keogh, barrister and magistrate of Roscommon, Alfred Henry Keogh was educated at Queen's College, Galway, and Guy's Hospital, London. He received his M.D. from the Queen's University of...
  
  
• 1922 Thomas Henry Holland
  Thomas Henry Holland
  Sir Thomas Henry Holland KCSI KCIE FRS was a British geologist and educational administrator.Thomas Holland was born in Helston, Cornwall. In 1884, he won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Science, graduating with a first class degree in Geology...
  
  
• 1929 Henry Tizard
  Henry Tizard
  Sir Henry Thomas Tizard FRS was an English chemist and inventor and past Rector of Imperial College....
  
  
• 1942 Richard Southwell
  Richard V. Southwell
  Sir Richard Vynne Southwell MA, LLD, FRS was a British mathematician who specialized in applied mechanics as an engineering science academic.- Education and career :...
  
  
• 1948 Roderic Hill
  Roderic Hill
  Air Chief Marshal Sir Roderic Maxwell Hill KCB, MC, AFC & Bar, RAF was a senior Royal Air Force commander during World War II, and a past Rector of Imperial College...
  
  
• 1954 Patrick Linstead
  Patrick Linstead
  Sir Patrick Linstead CBE, DSc, HonDSc, DIC, HonFCGI, HonMIMM, FRS was an English chemist.-Career:...
  
  
• 1966 Owen Saunders
  Owen Saunders
  Sir Owen Alfred Saunders, MA, DSc, HonFCGI, FREng, FIMECHE, FInsTP, FRAES, FInsTF, FIC, FRS was an English applied mathematician, engineering science academic, and university administrator.- Early life :...
  
   (Acting Rector)
• 1967 William Penney
  William George Penney
  William George Penney, Baron Penney OM, KBE PhD, DSc, , FRS, FRSE, FIC, Hon FCGI was a British mathematician who was responsible for the development of British nuclear technology, following World War II...
  
  
• 1973 Brian Flowers
• 1985 Eric Ash
  Eric Ash
  Sir Eric Albert Ash, CBE is a distinguished German-born British electrical engineer and past Rector of Imperial College.Born in Berlin, Ash emigrated with his family to Britain in 1938 to escape Nazism...
  
  
• 1993 Ronald Oxburgh
• 2000 Richard Sykes
• 2008 Roy Anderson
  Roy Anderson (zoologist)
  Sir Roy Malcolm Anderson FRS is a leading British expert on epidemiology. He has mathematically modelled the spread of diseases such as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and AIDS...
  
  
• 2009 Keith O'Nions
  Keith O'Nions
  Sir Robert Keith O'Nions , is a British scientist and current Rector of the Imperial College London. He is the former Director General of the Research Councils as well as Professor of the Physics and Chemistry of Minerals and was head of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of...
  
   (Acting Rector)
• 2010 Keith O'Nions
  Keith O'Nions
  Sir Robert Keith O'Nions , is a British scientist and current Rector of the Imperial College London. He is the former Director General of the Research Councils as well as Professor of the Physics and Chemistry of Minerals and was head of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of...
  
  (Full appointment)