About our honorary appointments

James Vowles is Team Principal of Williams Racing and one of the most respected leaders in Formula 1. Over more than two decades in motorsport, he has been central to 8 World Championship titles with Brawn GP and Mercedes-AMG Petronas. A key architect of Brawn GP’s landmark 2009 title, he later helped drive Mercedes’ era of dominance. As the youngest current F1 Team Principal, James is known for his analytical, data-led leadership and widely followed race debriefs that deepen global fan engagement.

Lord Karan Bilimoria is founder of Cobra Beer and Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership, a joint venture with Molson Coors, and of Molson Coors Cobra India. Under his leadership, Cobra has become one of the world’s most awarded beers. He is Founding Chairman of the UK India Business Council, an Honorary Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and former Chair of the Advisory Board at Cambridge Judge Business School. A crossbench peer in the House of Lords, he served as President of the CBI from 2020.

Marty Wikstrom is a leading figure in the global luxury industry with over 35 years’ experience. She began her career at Nordstrom, rising from part time sales assistant to President of the Full Line Stores Group, later serving as Managing Director of Harrods and CEO of the Fashion and Accessories division at Richemont. A founding partner of Atelier Fund, she focuses on building luxury brands. Marty chairs Fortnum & Mason, sits on multiple boards, and is a Fellow and Advisory Board member at Cambridge Judge Business School.

Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi is an Emirati business leader, cultural advocate, and global champion for literacy and women’s empowerment. As Chairperson of Shurooq, she has attracted major investment to Sharjah and advanced its innovation agenda. She is Founder and CEO of Kalimat Publishing Group and leads the Kalimat Foundation’s international literacy initiatives. President and Chairperson of the American University of Sharjah, she promotes research and gender equity. Sheikha Bodour is also a former President of the International Publishers Association and founder of PublisHer.

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn is a prominent British business leader and economist, and an independent non executive director of HSBC. She served as Director General of the Confederation of British Industry from 2015 to 2020, shaping UK business policy during a period of profound change. Her earlier career spans the World Bank, The Economist, McKinsey, the BBC, and ITV. Carolyn has held non executive roles at organisations including Lloyds Banking Group and BAE Systems. She holds degrees from Cambridge, Penn, and INSEAD, and was appointed DBE in 2021.

Dr A. Michael Spence is Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean Emeritus at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001 for his seminal work on markets with asymmetric information, he previously received the John Bates Clark Medal. He has held leadership roles at Stanford and Harvard, and chaired the Commission on Growth and Development. His recent book, Permacrisis, addresses global challenges including climate change, inequality, and economic instability.