Sir Alan Rudge to Give Motivational Talk at 10th Annual Computing PhD Conference

Monday 29 October 2012

Biography

Sir Alan Rudge is Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director of Experian Plc and Chairman of the ERA Foundation. In June 2012 he completed an 11 year Chairmanship of the Board of Management of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. He is a past Chairman of ERA Technology Ltd and until December 2007 was a Pro-Chancellor of the University of Surrey. He was Deputy Chief Executive of British Telecom until 1997 and was subsequently Chairman of WS Atkins until 2001; Chief Executive and then President of Celtel International BV; and Special Adviser to General Atlantic Partners until 2004. He has served as either an executive Director, or non-executive Director, on 20 company boards ranging from start-ups to FTSE 100 companies.

Sir Alan is a former Chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, a past President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and Chairman of the Engineering Council. He has been an advisor to the Minister of Defence and served on a number of national committees including the Government’s Advisory Committee on Science and Technology.

Sir Alan obtained a PhD degree at the University of Birmingham and spent his early career in academic and industrial research before moving into general management. He has more than 50 publications and patents and has been a recipient of the IEE Faraday Medal, the IEEE (USA) Founders Medal and the Royal Academy of Engineering President's Medal. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1984 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1992. Sir Alan has received honorary degrees from nine UK Universities. He was made an OBE in 1987, CBE in 1995 and was knighted in 2000.