Announcing the award, the publishing company described Raven as part of “a small but illustrious group of recipients of the GUV Lifetime Achievement Award”.
Alice Frost, head of knowledge exchange and skill at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, paid tribute to Raven′s role as an “important national commentator in discussions on technology transfer and research commercialisation”.
Among the many achievements that earned him the recognition, Raven co-founded Summit Technology in 1985, which collaborated on one of the first successful methods of laser eye surgery. By 2000 he was CEO of Diomed, which he also founded, a world leader in therapeutic medical diode lasers. He began working in technology transfer in the higher education the same year, joining the University of Cambridge in 2011.
At Cambridge Enterprise, Raven’s signal achievements have included the creation of a £125m patient capital fund, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and the Enterprise Investment Scheme based University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund for high net worth friends and alumni of the University. This has allowed Cambridge Enterprise to have an ambition worthy of a world leading university and exemplified by record levels of seed investments and the largest UK spin out “A-round” of $95m for Carrick Therapeutics.
Frost added: “Tony has generously shared his wisdom and that of his overseas peers and colleagues, such as American counterparts, with policymakers to ensure that the UK’s approaches reflect the latest international thinking.
“Tony is deeply committed to the success of UK technology transfer. He clearly gives great service to the particular universities that employed him. However, it is clear to all that Tony seeks to do service to the greater national good and to the profession that he exemplifies.”