Sir William Martin Castell (born 10 April 1947) is a British businessman who was chairman of the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

, a director of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

and a former director of BP. He was CEO of

Amersham plc Amersham plc was a manufacturer of radiopharmaceutical products, to be used in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures. The company became GE Healthcare following a takeover in 2003, which was based at the original site in Amersh ...

from 1989 until it was acquired by GE in April 2004 and then became CEO of

GE Healthcare GE HealthCare is a subsidiary of American multinational conglomerate General Electric incorporated in New York and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. As of 2017, it is a manufacturer and distributor of diagnostic imaging agents and radiopharma ...

and a vice-chairman of GE. Castell was educated at

St. Dunstan's College St Dunstan's College is a coeducation, co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Catford, south-east London, England. It is a registered charity, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference a ...

and

Cass Business School Bayes Business School, formerly known as Cass Business School, is the business school of City, University of London, located in St Luke's, just to the north of the City of London. It was established in 1966, and it is consistently ranked as one ...

, where he earned a BA. He qualified as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

with Spicer and Pegler (1971–75) and then joined Wellcome plc as financial controller of Europe (1976–79), rising to MD Wellcome Biotech (1982–84) and commercial director (1984–89). He was a non-executive director of The General Electric Company (UK) which became

Marconi plc Marconi Communications, the former telecommunications arm of Britain's General Electric Company plc (GEC), was founded in August 1998 through the amalgamation of GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) with other GEC subsidiaries: Marconi SpA, GEC ...

1997–2002, and was appointed a non-executive director of BP in 2006, until April 2012. He joined the board of governors of the

as chairman-designate on 1 January 2006, succeeding Sir Dominic Cadbury as chairman in May 2006. Prior to joining Amersham, he held various positions with the Wellcome pharmaceutical company, which was then owned by the Wellcome Trust. Alongside his business career he has been involved for many years in not-for-profit activities, including being a council member of the Medical Research Council (2001–2004) and chairman of the

Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

(1998–2003). He is a former trustee of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

, a board member of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

's Institute of Life sciences, a board member of the

National Bureau of Asian Research The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is an American non-profit, research institution based in Seattle, Washington, with a branch office in Washington, D.C. NBR brings together specialists, policymakers, and business leaders to examine ...

, a visiting fellow at Green College,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and an Honorary Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...

Sources

* Debrett's People of Today 2007 entry * Wellcome Trust website *

Sustainable Development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

Infectious Diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castell, William Martin 1947 births Living people People educated at St Dunstan's College Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of Bayes Business School Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Fellows of King's College London Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Wellcome Trust BP people English nonprofit businesspeople Knights Bachelor