Experimental particle physicist Tejinder Virdee accorded prestigious Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II
On 17 October 2014, Tejinder Virdee FRS was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. He is best known for his innovative design, physics research and overseeing the construction of the gigantic CMS Experiment at CERN located 100 meters underground in a vast cathedral-like cavern at the Large Hadron Collider.
Sir Tejinder, also Professor of Physics at Imperial College in London, was named a Knight Bachelor for his Services to Science in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, released in June 2014.
Sir Tejinder, the citation reads, is one of the UK's most distinguished physicists and, as one of the creators of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Experiment, he has made outstanding contributions to science.
The CMS experiment, at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, has delivered seminal results in particle physics, including the groundbreaking discovery of the Higgs Boson, a particle that gives mass to other particles.
Beyond his innovative work in particle physics, he is also a great campaigner for science, and promoter of science and education in India and in Africa where he was born.
Sir Tejinder, 62, developed new technologies within the detector that allowed it to find the Higgs - the mechanism that explains how fundamental particles acquire mass, and ultimately explains why our universe has substance.
Asked how he felt upon receiving the news, he said, "This accolade was a complete surprise to me. It's really quite humbling and of course I'm delighted to receive it. The Higgs boson is a very special type of particle - a type we've never seen before. It has unusual properties that we need to study and understand in more detail”, he said.
Sir Tejinder celebrated his knighthood in style.
“My wife Vatsala and I had three grand and memorable events. Celebrations kicked off last summer with a garden party around our swimming pool in Geneva with my scientific colleagues, friends and family. Another event was held in Birmingham, which my mother organized at the Sikh Gurdwara. And finally on 6 Sepember, Ramaben Oza, Rashmi and Bharat and family organized a big Bollywood bash in Cheshire at Vatsala’s family home.
On the day of the Knighthood we opted to have a small intimate family luncheon in Windsor following the official ceremony at Windsor Castle. This gave us a chance to really soak in the events of whole day, relax and talk about the Queen, prolonging the excitement of a truly fantastic day for all of us".