Professor David Norburn, Director of the Imperial College Management School, has announced that he is to leave in January 2004.

Prof Norburn came to Imperial in 1987 with the brief of starting up the Management School from the old "Mangagement Science" divison of the Mechanical Engineering department. He had previously been at London Business School (now an independent UL College, but which began life as an IC/LSE joint venture).

During his 16 years, Prof Norburn has overseen the development of the School into one of the most profitable parts of the University. Student numbers have increased by around 300% while the School's research has improved in recognition - achieving a 5 rating in last year's Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

The new Director will inherit the new purpose built Tanaka Building (currently being erected at a cost of £27m)). Last year the School was ranked 85th in the world, by the Financial Times, for its full-time MBA programme and 11th for the "Executive" (part-time) MBA. The School also has one of the largest doctoral programmes in management theory in Europe.

Commenting on his decision, Prof Norburn remarked "I've achieved everything that I set out to do - balanced excellence in teaching and research."