Romanian businessman George Iacobescu, president and executive director of the Canary Wharf has been named a Knight Bachelor in UK, according to Romania's Embassy to London. The has been given the title for contribution to charity, to the community and the financial services industry. He is the first Romanian who has received such a title from Queen Elisabeth the II-nd. It allows Iacobescu to use the noble title Sir.

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 run the company which 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 with 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 – Commander of the British Imperial Order in 2003 and custodian of British Museum in 2007.

A knighthood (or a damehood, its female equivalent) is one of the highest honours an individual in the United Kingdom can achieve. In 2011, 26 other individuals received the Knight Bachelor title together with Iacobescu. Check the full list of new Year Honors in UK here.

editor@romania-insider.com