Paul Atherton

Paul David Atherton (1954–2023) was a British philanthropist, innovator and engineer. He worked on interferometry and picometre sensors. He dedicated his career to innovation, product design and supporting startup companies. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2018.

Early life and education Atherton studied physics at Imperial College London, where his doctoral research focused on using interferometric measurements to study planetary nebulae. During his time there, he devised a new approach to more efficiently observe the night sky, which accelerated astronomical imaging and led to the co-founding of his first company in 1978 Queensgate Instruments, which specialized in creating innovative technologies for night sky imaging and gained popularity in both academic and industrial circles. After spending a year to develop Queensgate, Atherton chose to shift his focus to entrepreneurship and subsequently completed an MBA at the London Business School. From 2004 he served as non executive Director of Imperial Innovations, a technology commercialisation company. He held this position for ten years, securing investment funding for various startups and spinouts. He was an early investor in FA Bio, a sustainable agriculture spinout that restores the biodiversity of degraded soil.

In 2017 Atherton founded the Imperial Venture Mentoring Service, which attracts entrepreneurs and industry experts into volunteer mentoring roles. 2021 Imperial College Alumni Entrepreneur Award

Personal life Atherton was a member of The Old Gits Band.