Mr James Ross

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Educated at Oxford, where he was an Open Exhibitioner of Jesus College, he gained an honours degree in Modern History In 1962. In 1967 he was awarded a distinction in the diploma course for Advanced Studies in Business Administration at Manchester Business School. He was the recipient of honorary doctorates of law at the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester in 2000.

James Ross's career in the private sector was primarily with BP from 1962 to 1992. Having worked and lived in the UK, France, Africa and the USA, his last position was as a Managing Director of BP and Chairman and Chief Executive of BP America.

He subsequently spent twelve years as successively Chief Executive of Cable and Wireless, Chairman of Littlewoods and of National Grid and Deputy Chairman of National Grid Transco. In the mid 1990s, he chaired the Board of the Manchester Business School.

He is currently a director of Prudential, of McGrawHill and Datacard in the US and of Schneider Electric in France. He serves on the advisory council of the Institute of Business Ethics, the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and the board of the Marshall Aid Commemorative Commission.