Feature: Meet the new Trust Chairman
22 May 2006. By Ian Jones.
Actors, it seems, revel in their knighthoods. Rumour has it that some insist on being addressed as 'Sir' on set. The opposite is true of Bill Castell, the new Chairman of the Wellcome Trust. One senses that he sees such formalities as simply getting in the way of doing his job.
"I'm an enthusiastic sort of fellow," he says. "The one thing you'll find everyone says about me is my passion and my enthusiasm." This drive has led to conspicuous success in the business world. As head of Amersham plc, he masterminded its transformation from a company with £200 million annual sales when he joined to one turning over £1.7 billion by the time it was absorbed into General Electric in 2004.
He sees his new role at the Wellcome Trust as a natural progression. "From 1980 onwards my career has been about investing in science and driving innovation for application in healthcare. I've become used to, and delight in, working with scientists and finding ways to support them."
As an industrialist working for a multinational company, Bill Castell maintains a global perspective. He sees the Wellcome Trust as one of the few charitable bodies (along with the Gates Foundation) with a truly global outlook. This, and the chance to work with an organisation planning to spend half a billion pounds a year, was a key factor behind his decision to take up the reins as Chairman at the Wellcome Trust - something he describes as a "privilege".
Moreover, he adds, much of this funding is not precommitted to 'intramural' research centres. "Most of our funding capability is untied. We have excellent flexibility. And due to the rebound in the value of our underlying investment portfolio, whereas we have seen leaner years in the past two or three years, we will be in a good, robust position to maintain or even grow our future funding."
As well as the basic science for which the Trust is already well known, he believes that there is huge potential in the emerging area of 'translational medicine' - taking promising research findings and a better understanding of biological processes and using that knowledge to improve healthcare.
But he is also keenly aware of the distinctive nature of the charitable sector. "I'm certainly not coming to the Wellcome Trust saying as an industrialist I want to industrialise the Trust. I'm coming to the Trust bringing my managerial skills to chair the Board of Governors and support Mark and his team, so that we can achieve in the best possible way the charitable goals of Henry Wellcome."
Indeed, it is managerial experience - as well as his global network of contacts - that he sees as most valuable in his new role. He also points to his time on the Medical Research Council and as Chairman of the Prince's Trust as other valuable experience.
But industry, he believes, can promote good habits, with its discipline and focus on objectives. Success and failure are much easier to judge. "The one thing that industry has is an earning account, and over the long term you can assess if you've done a reasonable job. The real thing that I'm fascinated about is: how do we measure our effectiveness at the Trust? What are the outputs that are going to tell us that we are doing a good job, a great job or an outstanding job?"
Bill Castell's association with the Wellcome name goes back 40 years. He is deeply immersed in the 'Wellcome story' and sees Henry Wellcome as an inspirational figure for today. Wellcome was, he notes, not just committed to excellence in science and scientists, but also a skilled publicist, an early active supporter of public engagement with science and an advocate of historical studies.
He thus has a special regard for the new public venue being developed at 183 Euston Road. "I first walked into 183 Euston Road in the summer of 1966. I can't wait for it to reopen and walk in again."
A career - selected highlights
1965-69: Industrial trainee at Wellcome plc
1974-89: Rise through Wellcome, joining Board in 1987 as Commercial Director
1989-2004: Chief Executive, Amersham plc
2004-06: Vice-Chairman of General Electric and President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare.
Other activities and awards
1998-2003: Chairman, the Prince's Trust
2000: Knighthood for services to life sciences industry
2001-04: Member of Medical Research Council
2004- Trustee, Natural History Museum
Interests
Travel, social inclusion, golf, opera, family.
See also
- Update: New Chairman for the Wellcome Trust (News: 8 May 2006)