Honorary graduates and fellowships 2024

Dawn Bonfield MBE FREng

Professor of Practice, Engineering and Sustainable Development, King's College London and President, Commonwealth Engineers' Council

Dawn Bonfield is an aerospace materials engineer by background but has been working for the last decade on inclusive engineering or ensuring that engineers create solutions that are accessible to everyone, which avoid inequality, discrimination and bias. Her work covers engineering skills, ethics, sustainability, global responsibility and equality, diversity and inclusion. She is a Professor of Practice in Engineering for Sustainable Development at King’s College London and a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at Aston University. She is currently President of the Commonwealth Engineers’ Council, and a UK representative Board Member of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, where she is Deputy Chair of the Women in Engineering Committee, working on the impact of the role of engineering and technology in improving the lives of women globally.

Dawn has previously been President and former Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Engineering Society and was the founder of International Women in Engineering Day, which takes place annually on 23 June, and is this year celebrating its tenth anniversary. She has a social enterprise called Magnificent Women which celebrates the history of women in engineering and has recently been championing blue plaques for women engineers as part of the centenary of the Electrical Association for Women project.

She has been a member of the engineering T levels development panel as well as a member of the Engineering and Physical Sciences strategic advisory team.

Jonathon Counsell

Group Head of Sustainability at International Airlines Group (IAG)

Jonathon is a mechanical engineer by first degree and started his career in the chemicals industry working for Exxon Chemicals at their Fawley refinery. After undertaking an MBA from INSEAD in 1990 he started his to date 34-year career in aviation, first as a management consultant and then starting his first airline role in corporate strategy with Air New Zealand spending four wonderful years in Auckland, New Zealand.

In 1999 Jonathon joined British Airways (BA) in a strategy role at their Waterside Headquarters at Heathrow and in 2007 became BA Head of Environment, enabling him to support the airline and industry begin to address its carbon emissions.

In 2015 Jonathon was promoted to become Group Head of Sustainability for the International Airlines Group, the owner of five airlines – Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Level and Vueling, with responsibility for setting the group sustainability strategy and goals and overseeing its implementation.

Recognising that climate change is an industry challenge Jonathon has supported a number of industry associations through his Chair roles, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s Sustainability and Environment Advisory Council, the oneworld Environment Strategy Board and more recently the UK Jet Zero Council’s Sustainable Aviation Fuels Delivery Group.

Jonathon is happy to share that IAG has been granted the Air Transport World’s 2024 eco-airline of the year award.

Helen Nellis CVO, CStJ, MA Barrister

HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire (retired)

Helen Nellis was appointed by HM Queen Elizabeth ll as Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire and was the first woman in over 500 years to hold the post in the county. She served for 11 years and was transformative in supporting leaders from all sectors to work together to raise ambition and to build kind, cohesive communities where all feel valued and have the opportunity to flourish.

Helen’s career has spanned the law, higher education, health and commercial sectors. A qualified barrister and academic by background, she has worked as a global senior executive search professional and has a consultancy business as an executive coach specialising in the development of visionary, ethical board-level leaders.

She has been Chair of a number of large organisations including Bedfordshire Health Authority, Luton Health Action Zone and Bedford Hospitals’ NHS Trust as well as a member of university governing bodies in higher education and a governor in state schools.

Helen is married to Professor Joe Nellis CBE of Cranfield University with three children and enjoys walking, talking, tennis, golf and music.

Together with her family, Helen has been involved in supporting development in Ghana for many years. She is a Trustee, President and Patron of several charities. She was awarded the Commander of the Order of St John (CStJ) for services to humanity and the Commander (CVO) for exceptional service to the country and to the late Queen.

George Williamson

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of His Majesty's Government Communications Centre (HMGCC)

George joined HMGCC at Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes, as CEO in 2021. Prior to this, he held a series of senior roles within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), most recently as a Director General in Technology. He has served in the UK’s diplomatic service for over 20 years, with roles in both the UK and overseas.

In recent years his focus has been on roles at the intersection of technology and national security, developing an interest in the opportunities and challenges posed to UK security as a result of the rapid pace of technological advance.

For 86 years, HMGCC has been a government organisation with the task of creating tools and technologies for the national security community. Only now is it starting to speak more publicly about this work, to facilitate collaboration with industry and academia – including Cranfield University.

George took on the important role of heading up this organisational change. A large part of George’s work has included establishing HMGCC’s public identity as a national security engineering organisation, driving forward opportunities for universities and companies to get involved in HMGCC’s work.

George’s mission has been to encourage and attract brilliant, diverse and inclusive talent from across the science, technology, maths and engineering (STEM) disciplines and this will continue to be a priority for the future.

A Classics graduate from the University of Oxford, the early part of George’s career was spent in academia. He holds a DPhil from Oxford, was a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at Harvard University, and was Lecturer in Ancient History at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.