Paul Polman has been appointed as Chair of the Board, and Dr Vivienne Cox will join him as Vice-Chair. The new appointments underline Saïd Business School’s commitment to champion business as a solution to the world’s most pressing problems.
Paul Polman will chair the School’s Board, a fourteen-member governance group including representatives of business, the University, alumni, faculty and staff. Polman has helped to define a new era of responsible capitalism as the driving force behind Unilever’s ten-year Sustainable Living Plan, an ambitious strategy which challenged the corporate status quo. As a member of the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact, and Co-Chair of the B-Team, Polman has demonstrated his commitment, shared by the School, to deliver cutting-edge research and educate present and future leaders to take on the toughest challenges facing society today.
Dr Vivienne Cox, a regular listee of Fortune Magazine’s ‘World’s 50 most powerful women in business’, brings deep experience of leading large-scale, multidisciplinary organisations including BP, GSK, Pearson and Vallourec to the School Board. Among other roles, she was EVP and Chief Executive of BP’s gas, power and renewable businesses and its alternative energy unit. Her extensive expertise in creating and growing new businesses and deep understanding of government will benefit the School’s entrepreneurial and global goals significantly.
Professor Peter Tufano, Dean of Saïd Business School, commented:
‘We are honoured that Paul has agreed to chair our School Board and that Vivienne will be our Vice-Chair. Both are outstanding business leaders who have also demonstrated vision of working across boundaries to address the world’s critical challenges. There is huge synergy between the School’s world-scale mission and the purposeful values that Paul espouses. We share his view that it is vital to have purpose-driven leaders and organisations working together to find sustainable answers to urgent global issues.
‘Paul is joining us at a time when challenges to the world, and to business, are mounting. There is a growing expectation that business should have a broader, deeper role – a duty to society as well as to its shareholders. Rising to these challenges is a complex task requiring judgment, commitment and resilience. As an integral part of the world’s foremost university and a leading global business school, we have a duty to equip businesses and leaders with the skills they need to make a positive impact on society and the environment. Paul is an outstanding role model and we are delighted to welcome him into our community to help guide the School.
We are incredibly fortunate that Vivienne has also agreed to play a significant role in helping shape our future direction. Her broad business experience and sound judgment will be invaluable as the world demands greater impact – from business and from our School – in the century to come.
I cannot think of two more talented and respected individuals to work with us and steer us to achieve the next phase of our mission and vision. They will build on the leadership of Sir Howard Stringer, our former Chair, who previously served as President of CBS and CEO, and Chair of Sony.’
‘The scarcest commodity right now are leaders who have the courage and willpower to deliver a systems change,’ said Paul Polman. ‘That requires leadership, courageous leadership, at times uncomfortable leadership. What I like about Saïd Business School, is that you are creating these leaders. I'm honoured to become the Chair of Saïd Business School which has a cadre of students that represents the whole world and many of the places where we see these biggest challenges.'