William Castell

Sir William Castell LVO

"Former Vice Chairman, General Electric Company. Director since 2004.

"A graduate of the City of London College, Sir William joined Amersham plc in 1989 as Chief Executive. After GE acquired Amersham plc in April 2004, Sir William was appointed a Vice Chairman of the General Electric Company and became the CEO of GE Healthcare, the combination of the Amersham and the GE Medical businesses and, in July 2005, became the Chairman of GE Healthcare. In April 2006 Sir William retired as a Vice Chairman of GE. Sir William was knighted in 2000 for services to the life sciences industry. He served in the United Kingdom from 1998 to 2003 as Chairman of The Prince's Trust, a charity set up by the Prince of Wales in 1976. Sir William is currently Chairman of the Wellcome Trust, a non-executive director of British Petroleum plc and a trustee of London’s Natural History Museum. Sir William is an Honorary Fellow of Green College Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He has received honorary degrees from the University of Cardiff, King’s College University of London, Brunel University and the University of Oxford."

"He was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare, and a Vice-Chairman and latterly non-executive director of the General Electric Company (GE). He served on the board of BP plc for six years and for the last two years, until April 2012, was the senior independent director. Before the acquisition by GE, Bill was Chief Executive of Amersham plc for 15 years. Earlier in his career, he held various positions with the Wellcome pharmaceutical company, which was then owned by the Wellcome Trust. He is also a member of the board of Chichester Festival Theatre and Chairman of the High Street Fund.

"Bill's previous not-for-profit roles include being a council member of the UK Medical Research Council (2001-2004) and Chairman of the Prince's Trust (1998-2003). He is an Honorary Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a Trustee of the Education and Employers Taskforce."


 * Director, General Electric
 * Director, National Bureau of Asian Research
 * Partner, Ondra Partners