Romanian businessman George Iacobescu, president and executive director of Canary Wharf, London's second largest business center, was knighted last week by Prince Charles, according the Romanian Embassy in London. Following the announcement in the New Year's honors list, Prince Charles performed the ceremony. He has been awarded a KBE (Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for contributions to charity, to the community and the financial services industry. He is the first Romanian to receive such a title during the present Queen's reign. Iacobescu is now entitled to call himself Sir George.

Iacobescu, born in 1945 in Bucharest, where he studied civil and industrial engineering. He emigrated to Canada in 1975, during the communist regime. In 1983, he moved to New York, where he ran the company that built the World Financial Center. He went on to overview the Canary Wharf project in London in 1987, where he was executive vice-president responsible for budgets, the design and build of half of the existing Canary Wharf office district. Canary Wharf is the second financial center in London, after the City.

Iacobescu received other honorary titles before in UK – a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2003 and custodian of British Museum in 2007.

A knighthood (or a damehood, its female equivalent) is one of the highest honors an individual in the United Kingdom can achieve. In 2011, 26 other individuals received the Knight Bachelor title together with Iacobescu.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Romania’s Embassy to London)