Harpal Kumar BA, MEng, MBA

Harpal gained a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and an MBA as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of Manchester and the University of Newcastle. He was knighted in the 2016 New Year's Honours list for services to cancer research.

After a brief period working as a research scientist with the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Harpal worked for four years in the London office of McKinsey and Co, specialising in healthcare. He then became CEO of The Papworth Trust, which focuses on pioneering rehabilitation services for people with acquired and congenital disabilities.

Harpal left Papworth in 1997 to become founding CEO of Nexan Group, a venture capital-backed medical device company, creating and marketing novel cardio-respiratory monitoring technologies to reduce premature mortality in patients with congestive heart failure.