Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Detroit bomber, was president of University College London's Islamic society, according to a university spokesman.Terror suspect Abdulmutallab, who is charged with attempting to destroy the Christmas Day Northwest Airlines Flight 253, was president of the society between 2006 and 2007.
Faisal Hanra, a spokesman for the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, said: "We became aware that Abdulmutallab was president of the Islamic Society within the last 24 hours.
"It came as quite a shock. This raises a number of concerns, and we are making efforts to contact as many members of the society from the time as we can."
UCL said that Abdulmutallab, who was a full-time student from 2005 until 2008 "never gave his tutors any cause for concern", adding that he was "well mannered, quietly spoken, polite and able".
The university's Islamic Society last month attracted criticism after allowing Abu Usama to speak on campus – Usama has previously preached that homosexuals and opponents of Islam should be killed and women are mentally deficient. The university called off the event after protests.