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Sir William (Bill) Castell was Chairman of GE Healthcare, the global medical diagnostics and biosciences business of the General Electric Company, of which he is a Vice Chairman. Prior to its acquisition by GE in April 2004, Sir William was Chief Executive of Amersham plc. During his tenure with Amersham, he successfully oversaw a major expansion of the business through organic growth and acquisitions, culminating in 1997 with the mergers of Amersham International with Pharmacia Biotech and Nycomed asa. The resulting business, Amersham plc, was a world leader in in vivo medical diagnostics and life sciences research technologies.
Prior to joining Amersham, Bill held various positions with The Wellcome Foundation. In 1986, he was appointed Commercial Director, Wellcome plc. Previous positions with Wellcome included being head of the newly formed Wellcome Biotechnology and Head of Finance and Administration for Continental Europe, Africa and Asia.
In June 2000, Bill was knighted for his services to the life sciences industry. A strong proponent of business being active in society, Sir William participated in Business in the Community’s work to revitalise areas blighted by unemployment and social exclusion. In 1998, he was appointed Chairman of The Prince's Trust by HRH The Prince of Wales. In January 2004, he was made Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order for services to the Royal Family.
Sir William served as a member of the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council from 2001 to 2004. He is a Trustee of London's Natural History Museum, a Board Member of Michigan University’s Institute of Life Sciences and a Visiting Fellow at Green College, University of Oxford. In 2004, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Social Sciences from Brunel University and later the same year received Honorary Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Bill received his B.A. in Business Studies from the City of London College. He and his wife, Renice, have two daughters and a son. | 