World-renowned microbiologist awarded Honorary Fellowship

The Rt Hon. Elfyn Llwyd, Pro-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University, presenting Professor Sir Stewart Cole as Honorary Fellow

Professor Sir Stewart Cole KCMG FRS, an internationally renowned microbiologist working in global health, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Aberystwyth University as part of its annual graduation celebrations.

Professor Cole has made outstanding contributions to HIV and HPV genomics, and antimicrobial resistance research.  However, he is most highly acclaimed for his pioneering work on the pathogenicity, evolution and genomics of the mycobacteria responsible for tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy.

His team harnessed genome-derived information to accelerate TB drug and vaccine discovery and development. 

Candidate drugs that arose from his work are currently in clinical trials. 

Throughout his career he has strived to translate findings from his discovery research into interventions that benefit human health.

He is Executive Chair at the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research, and past president of the Institut Pasteur, Paris, having previously led the Global Health Institute at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. 

He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to science.

Professor Sir Stewart Cole was presented as Honorary Fellow by Professor Glyn Hewinson CBE, Sêr Cymru research chair in the Centre of Excellence for Bovine Tuberculosis for Wales at Aberystwyth University, on Tuesday 16 July 2024.

The full conferral presentation is available below, in the language in which it was delivered.

Professor Sir Stewart Cole with Professor Jon Timmis, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University

Presentation of Professor Sir Stewart Cole by Professor Glyn Hewinson:

Dirprwy Ganghellor, Is-Ganghellor, graddedigion a chyfeillion.  Pleser o’r mwyaf yw cyflwyno Stewart Cole yn gymrawd Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, graduates and supporters.  It is an honour and a privilege to present Stewart Cole as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Professor Sir Stewart Cole is an internationally renowned microbiologist working in global health. 

He grew up in Wales, where he was educated at Milford Haven Grammar School and then at Ardwyn Grammar School, Aberystwyth.

Following a life-threatening bout of paratyphoid he developed an interest in bacteria, viruses and infectious diseases, which led to his reading microbiology at the University of Wales, in Cardiff followed by research for his PhD at the University of Sheffield.

Subsequently, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Umeå in Sweden and a research assistant at the Max-Planck-Institut for Biology, Tübingen in Germany before joining the Institut Pasteur in Paris in 1983 where he worked for over twenty years. 

From 2000-2005 he was part of the senior management team of the Institut Pasteur and occupied the posts of executive Vice-President for science and acting President, before leaving for Switzerland where he joined the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in Lausanne in 2007. There he established the laboratory of Microbial Pathogenesis and led its Global Health Institute. 

In 2017 Sir Stewart returned to Paris and was appointed as the 16th Director General of the Institut Pasteur, thus becoming the first non-French appointee 130 years after its foundation, and he served in this position from January 2018 to December 2023. Under his leadership, the institute was a major player in the global response to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.  

In 2024 he joined the Ineos Oxford Institute on antimicrobial research as Executive Chair and became President of the Pasteur Foundation - UK.

His research accomplishments in microbiology have been widely acclaimed and are of direct relevance to global health and disease-control in both the developing world and the industrialised nations. Over four decades his team has investigated a range of topics.  He was an important player in the team that sequenced the HIV-1 genome and later the genomes of a number of oncogenic papillomaviruses thereby facilitating development of molecular diagnostic tests for AIDS and cervical cancer. He has also investigated bacterial electron transport systems, antibiotic resistance mechanisms and the molecular microbiology of toxigenic clostridia, the cause of gas gangrene. However, Sir Stewart is best known for his pioneering work on the genomics, evolution and virulence of pathogenic mycobacteria, especially those causing the human diseases tuberculosis (TB), leprosy and Buruli ulcer.

Throughout his career Sir Stewart has strived to translate findings from his discovery research into interventions that benefit human health.  His team harnessed genome-derived information to accelerate TB drug and vaccine discovery and development.  Candidate drugs that arose from his work are currently in clinical trials. 

His many achievements in research and science management are widely acknowledged and have led to the award of many prestigious prizes and distinctions.  He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2007 and was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to science. Most recently he received the prestigious rank of Officier de la Légion d’honneur in France’s New Year honours.

Dirprwy Ganghellor, mae’n bleser gen i gyflwyno Stewart Cole i chi yn Gymrawd. 

Pro-Chancellor, it is my absolute pleasure to present Stewart Cole to you as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Aberystwyth University Honours 2024

Each year, Aberystwyth University confers Honorary Awards on a small number of distinguished individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievement and contribution.

The 2024 Honorary Fellows are:

• Professor Sir Stewart Cole KCMG FRS, internationally renowned microbiologist working in global health
• Jess Fishlock MBE, professional footballer and coach, who has won 150 international caps for Wales
• Clare Hieatt, co-founder of globally acclaimed ideas festival The Do Lectures and Hiut Denim Co
• David Hieatt, co-founder of Cardigan-based jeans company Hiut Denim Co and The Do Lectures
• Professor Uzo Iwobi CBE FLSW FRSA, Founder and Chief Executive of Race Council Cymru
• Dr Anna Persaud, CEO and Founder of luxury British skincare and wellness brand, This Works
• Manon Steffan Ros, award-winning author, columnist and scriptwriter

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