Alice Gast, PhD

Alice Gast is Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at the Imperial College of London.

Previously, she served as the President of Imperial College London from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2022. In addition to her role as Professor Emeritus, she is currently advising venture capitalists and venture philanthropists.

She was the 13th and first woman president of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Prior to her appointment at Lehigh, Alice served as the vice president for research and associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and held the Robert T. Haslam chair in chemical engineering. She previously spent sixteen years as a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford University and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. In 2010, Alice was named to the prestigious post of science envoy by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the U.S. Department of State. As one of three science envoys named in 2010, Alice traveled to the Caucasus and Central Asia and advised the White House, the Department of State, and the U.S. scientific community about ways to deepen existing ties and foster new relationships there. Alice is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.