Virtual Graduation 2021
Honorary graduates
Dr Nneka Abulokwe OBE
Founder, MicroMax Consulting
Dr Nneka Abulokwe is the Founder of MicroMax Consulting, a boutique technology and governance board advisory firm. She serves as a non-executive director at the University of Cambridge and private-equity-backed Davies Group, amongst others. Nneka has enjoyed a successful executive career working in the leadership of global tech and digital professional services organisations.
In 2019 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Business. Nneka has been included in the list of the top 100 most influential African and Caribbean leaders in the UK in 2019, 2020 and 2021. She was a finalist in the Governance Institute UK’s ‘Governance professional of the year award’ in 2018 and named as one of the 100 global governance professionals in the ‘Modern Governance 100’ list in 2020 for transforming business during the global pandemic. She was ranked in the top 10 by the Financial Times as a business role model and tech leader and listed as one of Nigeria’s 100 most inspiring women and trailblazers in 2020. Nneka has been featured by Forbes on boardroom diversity and she makes regular appearances providing expert business opinion on BBC News 24, BBC World Service, BBC Radio Five Live and Bloomberg’s News global Day Break programme.
Nneka earned her Doctorate in Business Administration from the Cranfield School of Management in 2013 and is a fellow and a board member of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT. She is also a fellow of the Chartered Association for Project Management and a Freeman of the Technologist Livery Company.
“It is an absolute honour to receive this recognition from Cranfield University, a world-renowned institution of higher learning that continues to lead the way in making an impact across industry. I am so proud to be an alumna of the Cranfield School of Management. I would like to extend my hearty congratulations to all the 2021 graduands - your achievements have been undertaken in these unprecedented times. I wish you all the very best in your future endeavours."
Dick Elsy CBE
Former Chief Executive of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult
Dick Elsy has most recently held the role of Chief Executive of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, the greatest concentration of advanced manufacturing research capability in Europe. He is a career veteran from the automotive industry, with the bulk of his time spent at Land Rover and then Jaguar, where he was Engineering Director. At Land Rover, where he started his career as one of the key project team members on the original Discovery programme, he became a member of the Board from where he led the creation, development, and manufacture of the Freelander. Prior to joining the HVM Catapult, Dick was the CEO of Torotrak plc, the FTS- listed developer of traction drive technology.
Dick is on the council of the UK Research and Innovation Science and Technology Facilities Council and is a non-executive director of AB Dynamics, an AIM listed supplier of integrated test systems for the global automotive industry. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a holder of its Silver Medal. He was recognised for his contribution to manufacturing and technology in the UK with a CBE in 2018.
In 2020 Dick chaired the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium, a collection of significant industrial and engineering partners from across the UK which manufactured and delivered over 13,000 ventilators for the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My association with Cranfield goes back over 25 years, from a time when I sought help to push the boundaries of manufacturing in the UK car industry. Today we enjoy a very close working relationship, helping to set the national agenda for manufacturing innovation. For me, Cranfield has been a frontrunner in such innovation, and it is an honour to be receiving a degree from an institution that I hold in such high regard.”
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn DBE
Former Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn DBE was, until November 2020, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, the UK’s largest business organisation representing over 190,000 companies. Her career spans a range of senior leadership roles in business, media and government.
Carolyn spent her early career with the World Bank and as a journalist with The Economist magazine. In 1995 she joined McKinsey and became a partner in its media practice. As BBC Director of Strategy, she led the BBC’s digital strategy and, in 2003, designed and launched Freeview, one of the UK’s most successful TV services. From 2007-10, Carolyn was a member of the Executive Board at ITV.
She has served as a director of a wide range of leading British companies and regulators, including Lloyds Banking Group, the Vitec Group and Capita plc. She was a Director of the Competition and Markets Authority and, from 2008-11, the Financial Services Authority, and until 2016 was a Trustee of Marie Curie, a leading cancer charity. She has recently been appointed to the Board of BAE Systems, the global aerospace group.
Carolyn has also worked in government as a member of John Major’s Number 10 Policy Unit from 1995-97. In 2019, Carolyn was awarded the honour of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to UK business.
She holds a double first-class honours degree in Economics from Cambridge University, an MA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA with distinction from INSEAD. She is an honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and of Nuffield College in Oxford.
Carolyn is married with three children and lives in Hampshire.
“It is a great privilege to be receiving an honorary degree from Cranfield University. Cranfield has long been a champion of business, putting its world-class research capability at the service of real-world problems while training compassionate and visionary leaders of the future. Its pioneering work on gender equality has been particularly inspiring, helping to make our businesses more inclusive and, as a result, more successful. Congratulations to everyone receiving their degrees this week – it is an honour to be among you.”
Air Marshal Sue Gray CB OBE
Director General, Defence Safety Authority
Air Marshal Susan Gray commissioned into the Engineer Branch of the Royal Air Force in August 1985, after gaining a degree in Electronics from Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic. Her career has encompassed service on VC10 Transport aircraft, followed by an extensive period with the Support Helicopter Force, and deployments on Gulf War 1 and 2, in charge of the life support and logistics and Chief Engineer for the Joint Helicopter Force. Back in the UK, she undertook tours as the Senior Engineer Officer on Chinook and Puma Helicopters and as Officer Commanding Engineer and Supply Wing at RAF Benson (Merlin and Puma Helicopters) plus gained an MSc in Aircraft Design from Cranfield University.
Moving into the acquisition arena within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), Susan led the Combat Clothing Project Team, delivering new body armour, helmets and combat clothing to front line troops. Susan then joined the department delivering Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS). She was appointed as Director Combat Air, DE&S in January 2014, with responsibility for the procurement and through-life engineering and logistics support of all fighter aircraft, training aircraft and RPAS for all three Armed Services.
Susan was awarded an OBE in 2005 and CB in 2017. She has been a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering since 2017.
In June 2016, Susan was appointed Air Officer Commanding Number 38 Group with responsibility for circa 3,000 personnel, across multiple disciplines engaged in supporting worldwide operations, advising the Chief of Air Staff as the Senior Engineer in Air Command.
In April 2019 on promotion to Air Marshal, she assumed the appointment of Director General, Defence Safety Authority.
“It is with huge pleasure that I accept an honorary doctorate from Cranfield University. With nearly 36 years of service as an engineer in the Royal Air Force, the current pace of change in this technological age offers a significant challenge across the field of aerospace engineering. Cranfield University continues to be at the leading edge of innovation and academia, supporting both industry and the Armed Forces. It is a privilege to be returning to accept this doctorate.”
Chris Hopson
Chief Executive, NHS Providers
Chris Hopson is Chief Executive of NHS Providers, the membership organisation for England’s 215 NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance trusts that account for £92 billion of annual expenditure and employ over one million staff.
Prior to that, Chris had been board-level Communications and Marketing Director, and Strategy Director, at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Then, as HMRC’s Customer Contact Director, he led 12,500 staff in one of the UK’s largest customer service businesses.
Before joining HMRC, Chris was a member of the board as Corporate Affairs Director at Granada Media, helping grow the company from the fifth largest ITV franchise, through four mergers and acquisitions, to a separately quoted, new, FTSE 100 company: ITV plc. Previously, he was the first Political Adviser at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Chief Executive of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Chris is a graduate of the Civil Service High Potential Development Scheme, designed to develop the next generation of top civil service leaders. He is currently an independent member of the British Standards Institute’s Standards Policy and Strategy Committee which oversees BSI’s role as the UK’s national standards body. Between 2005 and 2011, he was chair of the Foyer Federation, a UK national youth charity supporting homeless 16- to 25-year-olds.
In 2005, in PR Week’s 21st anniversary edition, Chris was identified as one of the 100 most influential figures in the UK communications industry over the previous 21 years.
“I am very honoured to receive this degree because Cranfield has played such an important role in my career, leadership journey and wider life. My MBA enabled me to change career, from politics to business. It gave me a strategic, helicopter-view perspective that helped me move across senior roles in the TV industry, the civil service and, now, the National Health Service (NHS). I also made a group of lifelong friends and married an MBA from my class. So, once again, thank you Cranfield.”
Emma Howard Boyd CBE
Chair of the Environment Agency
Emma Howard Boyd CBE has been the Chair of the Environment Agency since 2016. The Agency is a public body responsible for the protection and enhancement of the environment in England.
Emma is also an ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), an Advisor to the Board of Trade, and a Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience ahead of COP26. Emma, with a background in finance, is a board member or advisor to many organisations which include The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, the Green Finance Institute, the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, the Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, the Council for Sustainable Business, the European Climate Foundation, and Menhaden PLC. She was the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation from 2018 until its sunset in January 2021.
Before becoming the Chair of the Environment Agency in September 2016, she has served as a board member since 2009, was Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee until 2016, and served as Deputy Chair. Her other past roles include being the Chair of Trustees at ShareAction from 2015 to 2018, Vice-Chair of the Future Cities Capital from 2013 and 2018, and acting as a non-executive Director at the Aldersgate Group (2012 -18) and Thrive Renewables (previously Triodos Renewables, 2004-12). Before that, she held various executive roles at Jupiter Asset Management. She was also Chair of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, a member of the Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance, and the Green Finance Taskforce.
Emma was awarded a CBE in the 2021 Queens Birthday Honours for her services to the Environment.
“I’m very grateful to accept the honorary degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa from Cranfield University. The world has entered an environmental crisis with nature’s depletion and increasing climate shocks like floods and droughts threatening people and economies. As this years’ graduates go on to careers that help society to overcome these challenges, I hope we can inspire the next generation of women and men to follow in their footsteps.”
The Right Honourable, The Lord Andrew Parker of Minsmere GCVO KCB
Crossbench Peer and member of the Privy Council
Lord Andrew Parker is a Crossbench Peer and member of the Privy Council. He has recently taken up the role of Her Majesty The Queen’s Lord Chamberlain - the non-executive head of the Royal Household. He is a non-executive director of Babcock International Group, an adviser to Telicent, a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, and Visiting Professor at Northumbria University.
Andrew grew up in Newcastle, was educated at a local comprehensive school, and gained a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge before joining MI5 as an intelligence officer in 1983. He served in a wide range of roles at all levels, was appointed Director-General in 2013, and retired from MI5 after a 37-year career in 2020.
Leading MI5 through many acute security challenges, Andrew built a reputation for delivering success through operational excellence, close partnerships, and modernising MI5’s leadership culture, with a focus on calm, people-centred responses to even the most dramatic of crises. He sharpened MI5’s mission-based drive, founded on clear shared values and a determined commitment to practical inclusion.
Lord Parker was awarded Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 2019. He was granted a Life Peerage and appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. In 2021 HM The Queen awarded him the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and he was appointed to the Privy Council. He also holds the Légion d’Honneur (France) and the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Portugal).
“I am delighted to receive this honorary doctorate because of the vital contribution that institutions like Cranfield University are making to all our futures. From my own experience in the national security sector and more recently in Babcock International, I know something of how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines power our economy, make us safer, and tackle the intractable problems that challenge our planet. I am proud to be associated with Cranfield’s commitment to growing diverse STEM leaders and enabling people of all backgrounds to meet their full potential in these much-needed disciplines.”
Nigel Whitehead CBE
Former Chief Technology Officer, BAE Systems
Nigel Whitehead has just retired following a hugely enjoyable 41 years with Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems.
He worked as an aerodynamicist on the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP), the demonstrator aircraft that paved the way for Typhoon.
His career developed into programme management and he spent a decade working overseas in Sweden and Australia before returning to the UK to lead the Astute submarine programme.
He ran the BAE Systems military air business in a period that Typhoon entered into service, the company’s F-35 production line was established and the Taranis stealthy UAV demonstrator was developed.
In 2008 he was given responsibility for the UK business areas of BAE Systems including the military air business, submarines and ships, security, land vehicles and munitions.
In 2018 he became the Chief Technology Officer where the BAE Systems’ links with Cranfield were an important part of his responsibilities.
In his career he has led teams that have delivered over £80 billion of defence equipment and captured over £100 billion of orders.
In the last 16 months, Nigel has spent half of his time with a business-led charity called ‘Be the Business’ that aims to improve the performance of UK businesses especially during the pandemic.
He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He was appointed CBE in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to vocational education and skills.
“I am delighted and flattered to be awarded this honorary doctorate by Cranfield University.
Cranfield has a reputation for progressive thinking and I am proud to be associated in this way with the University. Cranfield educates to the highest standards, accelerating the careers of its graduates. The research carried out at Cranfield feeds the cutting-edge technology that underpins the success of the aerospace, defence and security sectors. I know that BAE Systems has benefitted from its relationship with the Cranfield team over many decades.”
Toto Wolff
Team Principal, CEO and co-owner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
Toto Wolff is the Team Principal, CEO and co-owner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. From humble surroundings in Vienna, Austria, Toto’s first taste of motorsport came at the age of 17, when he watched a friend compete at the Nürburgring in Germany. A short racing career of his own soon followed, including a 24-hour endurance class victory at the very same track, before Toto transferred his competitive ambitions to the business and investment world.
After studying at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Toto noted the growth of the dotcom bubble in the US and founded Marchfifteen in 1998, one of the earliest tech-focused venture capital firms in Europe, making a string of high-profile deals in the early 2000s. He would go on to found Marchsixteen in 2004 where one of his investments was HWA AG – the company responsible for the Mercedes-Benz DTM and Formula 3 engine programmes.
By this time, Toto also co-owned a racing driver management company and would eventually return to racing himself, competing in a variety of endurance events. In 2009 he entered the world of Formula One by acquiring a stake in the Williams F1 Team, becoming Executive Director of the team in 2012.
Less than a year later, after being asked to analyse their Formula One performance by the Daimler AG Board, Toto was appointed Managing Partner of the Mercedes F1 Team and acquired a 30% stake in the Brackley-based team alongside co-shareholder Niki Lauda. At the same time, he assumed the role of Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, with overall responsibility for the company’s works motorsport programmes, which today include Formula 1 and Formula E.
In his time at the helm, the Formula One team has achieved an unprecedented seven consecutive World Championship doubles to become the most successful team in F1 history.
"I’m very proud to be receiving an honorary degree from Cranfield University. It’s a special moment, particularly because of the great work and collaboration between the Mercedes F1 Team and Cranfield University over the years, which I know will continue into the future too.
I would like to pass my thanks to Cranfield University for the opportunity. I am now an honorary Doctor of Science, which is not something I ever expected to be, especially after failing to complete my undergraduate studies in Vienna! I feel both privileged and honoured to be recognised by such a prestigious institution."
Air Marshal Sir Julian Young KBE CB OBE
Former Director General, Air in Defence Equipment and Support
Air Marshal Sir Julian Young retired recently from the Royal Air Force (RAF) after 40 years of service. He joined from school and amassed experience as an Engineer Officer across the entire spectrum of operational, logistics, policy, training and acquisition support posts. He served last as Director General Air in Defence Equipment and Support where he was responsible for leading 2,200 professionals and spending an annual budget of £3.7 billion on equipping and supporting the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD’s) fixed-wing aircraft. Julian was also a Member of the Air Force Board, the RAF’s Chief Engineer and the MOD’s Defence Engineering Champion. His early operational tours were on Support Helicopter squadrons, including Operation Granby (Gulf War I) and the Falkland Islands. Later tours focused on Harrier GR7/T10 aircraft. He was Station Commander at RAF Cosford, and since was responsible for restructuring aircraft support across the MOD and reorganizing HQ Air Command.
Julian was awarded his KBE in 2020 for work related to Acquisition and Defence Engineering, CB in 2013 for RAF organisational change and OBE in 2000 for services to Harrier support. Throughout he has maintained his professional development and gained two part-time, postgraduate degrees from Cranfield University.
“I am extremely proud to have been awarded this honorary degree, which demonstrates the bond between the Ministry of Defence(MOD) and Cranfield University. Throughout my career I have promoted professional development as a force for personal growth and encouraged people to take up the educational opportunities offered by the MOD. I have topped up my own knowledge through part-time master’s degrees and applied this immediately to my work. I trust my example will inspire others to follow this path.”
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