Dame Carolyn McCall DBE, Chief Executive of EasyJet, gave the University of Kent annual Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture on Thursday 20 October.
The lecture, which took the form of an ‘ask me anything’ event, took place at 18.15 in the University’s Templeman Lecture Theatre at its Canterbury campus. Dame Carolyn took questions on all aspects of business: from Brexit to in-flight breakfasts.
Questions were submitted in advance via Twitter #UniKentEvents and there was a roving microphone for the audience to ask questions during the lecture. Admission was free and open to all, on a first come, first served basis. The lecture was completely full.
Dame Carolyn graduated from the University of Kent in 1982 with a BA in History and Politics and Government. She joined EasyJet on 1 July 2010 as Chief Executive Officer. Her strategic focus has resulted in a series of milestone events including reaching the landmark of carrying 65m passengers annually and attracting more business travellers, with more than 12m now flying with EasyJet each year.
Prior to joining EasyJet, Dame Carolyn was Chief Executive of the Guardian Media Group. She was also the non-executive director of Lloyds TSB (2008-9), Tesco (2005-8), and New Look (1999-2005). In September 2014 she joined the Burberry Board as non-executive director and in 2015 was asked by the Prime Minister to join his Business Advisory Group.
Awarded the OBE for services to women in business in 2008, Dame Carolyn was named ‘Woman of the Year’ at the Women 1st Shine Awards in 2012. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by BBC Radio 4 programme Woman’s Hour.
She was awarded an honorary degree by the University in 2009.