Sir Richard served as chairman of BAE Systems, the global defense and aerospace company, from 2004 to 2014. Previously, he had a 30-year career at BP culminating in his appointment as deputy group chief executive in 2003. He was a non-executive director of Reuters and Thomson Reuters from 1997 to 2008. Sir Richard is an advisor to HSBC Bank and chairman of a private oil and gas company. He is a former member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group and a former UK Business Ambassador. He is a member of the GLF Global Leadership Foundation and a Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute, the Institution of Civil Engineers, and the Royal Academy of Engineering, from which he was awarded the President’s Medal in 2015. Sir Richard was also awarded the prestigious Non-Executive Director of the Year Award at the 6th annual NED Awards in 2012. Sir Richard has degrees from: the City University London (Honorary Doctorate), Cranfield University (Honorary Doctorate), University of Virginia Darden Business School, and City University (Civil Engineering BEng).