Sir Tejinder Virdee is one of Britain's most distinguished physicists. As a Professor at Imperial College London and a senior scientist at CERN, he was one of the principal architects of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) detector — the extraordinary instrument at the Large Hadron Collider that contributed to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012.
The discovery of the Higgs boson — the particle that gives matter its mass — was one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the century, confirming the Standard Model of particle physics that had been theorised for decades. Sir Tejinder's contribution to building the detector that made this possible was immense.
He was knighted in 2014 for services to science. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has received numerous international awards for his contributions to physics. He is also an important role model for young people from Asian backgrounds pursuing careers in science and technology.