Sidney appoints three new Honorary Fellows

Prakash Melwani 

Prakash Melwani was born in Singapore and brought up in Hong Kong and the UK. He arrived at Sidney in 1977 to read Economics, graduating with First Class Honours.Melwani subsequently gained an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.

Prakash Melwani’s early career included spells with The First Boston Corporation and with NM Rothschild in Hong Kong and London. In 1988 he co-founded Vestar Capital, where he was Chief Investment Officer. In 2003 he joined the Blackstone Group and is currently Global Chief Investment Officer of their Private Equity Group and Executive Chairman of Blackstone’s private equity business in Asia.

Melwani has argued that private equity firms must embed ESG (environmental, social and governance) goals at all levels of their businesses. This longer-term approach, which recognises the importance of sustainability - and of addressing issues such as human rights in firms’ supply chains - is, he argues, simply good business.

Melwani is also known for challenging gender imbalance on shortlists for senior appointments, and as a keen mentor of colleagues from across Blackstone’s global business.

In 2020, Prakash and Anjali Melwani made a substantial gift to Sidney. Their generosity funds an extensive programme supporting student mental health at Sidney.

Melwani serves on a number of boards and advisory groups, including at the universities of Harvard and Yale, and our own University’s philanthropic arm Cambridge in America. He sits on the board of the humanitarian aid charity International Rescue Committee (IRC) and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

‘Sidney has been an important part of my life. I’ve benefitted professionally from the economics I studied at Cambridge. More important, at a personal level, the Sidney experience gave me the self-belief to pursue my varied interests, for which I will always be grateful. I’m pleased to become an Honorary Fellow of Sidney as it will allow me to strengthen my already close bonds with the College.’

Prakash Melwani

Professor Joanne Martin

Professor Joanne Martin MA MB MA PhD FRCPath FFPH (Hon) FRCPI (Hon) CBE is a distinguished neuropathologist, and Professor of Pathology and Deputy Vice Principal Health at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London.

Jo Martin read Medical Sciences at Sidney Sussex, completing her clinical education in London in 1984.

In a research career spanning five decades Professor Martin has successfully used the tools of contemporary molecular biology and genetics to better understand the mechanisms that drive neurological disease. She has published more than 130 articles and contributed to a number of significant advances in neuropathology: in the late nineties, she designed the experimental protocol known as SHIRPA which has been used to assess disease progression in living models ever since; she has developed techniques to aid detection of intestinal dysmotility, a condition where the muscles in the digestion track are weakened, leading to a range of symptoms, including abdominal pain and weight loss; the International London Classification, to which she and her colleagues at Barts and the London contributed, provides a unifying, internationally-agreed framework for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal neuromuscular disorders.

Professor Martin was National Clinical Director of Pathology for NHS England from 2013-16, President of the Royal College of Pathologists from 2017-2020, and is now National Specialty Advisor for Pathology for NHS England and Improvement, chairing the national Pathology Board and the national Pathology Workforce Board. She chaired the Research Advisory Board of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and is co-founder of Biomoti, a drug delivery development company focused on cancer treatment.

Professor Martin was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022.

‘This is a great honour, and one which is especially dear to my heart as an alumna. The College community is a supportive and inspiring one. It prepares people for their future careers and endeavours across a range of disciplines, and with friends and colleagues that last a lifetime. This award is deeply appreciated.’

Professor Joanne Martin CBE

Sharad Javali 

Sharad Javali established the Pavate Foundation to honour the memory of his grandfather, DC Pavate, on the centenary of his birth. DC Pavate studied Mathematics at Sidney in the 1920s, and on his return to India he became the Vice Chancellor of Karnatak University. He held other important positions before becoming the Governor of the Punjab.

Since 2000, Sharad Javali has played an outstanding role establishing and nurturing the Pavate Fellowship Programme. The Programme, which is administered by Karnatak University, Dharwad, has to date enabled more than 40 Fellows based in India to spend a term at Sidney, interacting with our community and furthering their research.

Sharad Javali has had a distinguished legal career. Since 1989, he has served as a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He is best known as an expert on water disputes and successfully defended Karnataka’s claims in the Krishna, Cauvery and Mahadaiyi rivers disputes with Andhra Pradesh. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in law by Karnatak University for his pivotal role in establishing the Pavate Fellowship Trust, and in recognition of his key role in developing and strengthening legal studies at the University.