Professor John Humphries
- Born
- Unknown
Professor John Humphries has used his experience and education to go above and beyond what is expected of him. His journey began at Southampton University where he read Oceanography, a subject that he has maintained a passion and drive for throughout the years. As a chartered biologist, he still regularly practices the discipline with his specialities being the ecology of estuaries and the coastal benthos.
Not wanting to just settle with life in the lab, Humphries has taken his strong scientific background and combined it with his exceptional managerial skills to help society and many of the institutions that he is part of. By combining these two areas of expertise he has been able to take on many prolific positions within a wide variety of organisations, including his role as Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Greenwich, London.
Notably, alongside the University of Kent, Humphries led an initiative to build a new School of Pharmacology which is set to have a number of widespread benefits for pharmacological research in the future. He is also the board director of a number of science-specialist companies that provide a wide variety of activities, from drug production to environmental services.
Through sharing his knowledge with the rest of the world he has also gained a breadth of experience within many internationals faculties and governments. To help with reducing poverty and improving economies in Sub-Saharan African nations, Humphries set up an organisation called NGO Tabeisa which is run off British and EU funding. One of the projects run by this organisation resulted Topshop selling ethically made clothes from communities in Ghana, which provided them with wealth and opportunity.
While Humphries has been retired from his role in university management since 2007, he still maintains a connection with the university by holding the title of professor and taking part in regular teachings and lectures. With 70 publications under his name, the students are in safe hands.
By having his finger in so many pies, John Humphries has managed to have a far reaching and incredibly positive impact on science and society. He is a great example of how, if you pull together all of your resources, you can achieve amazing things.