Rt Hon The Lord Ronald Oxburgh

Born in Liverpool, Lord Oxburgh also studied at Princeton, completing his PhD in 1960, before embarking on a career which spans politics, academia and the corporate world.

His work in academia includes positions at both Oxford and Cambridge, where he became head of the award-winning Department of Earth Sciences. He also became Rector of Imperial College in 1993, and was instrumental in creating the Imperial College School of Medicine.

His experience outside academia includes roles within the Ministry of Defence, where he was a Chief Scientific Adviser, and as a crossbench peer in the House of Lords where he chaired the Science and Technology Select Committee.

During his time at Shell, as a board member and later as non-executive chairman, Lord Oxburgh expressed his concerns and fears surrounding CO2 emissions and climate change, urging greater social responsibility within the energy sector. Under his chairmanship Shell also merged with Royal Dutch, becoming Royal Dutch Shell.

Lord Oxburgh was knighted in 1992 and made a life peer in 1999. He has three children with his wife Ursula, and enjoys mountaineering, orienteering, reading and theatre.