Wellcome appoints two new Board members

The two new Board members, who between them have experience in finance, the civil service and charitable organisations, will join their first Board of Governors meeting in November this year. 

Sir Stephen Lovegrove will become a Board member in November, and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee from January 2024. He was most recently National Security Adviser, advising on the UK’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine among other high-profile issues. 

Sir Stephen has held positions including as a Board member on the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and as a trustee of the Charities Aid Foundation. He held a number of senior government position during his career in the civil service, including Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence and Permanent Secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. 

Sir Stephen is also a non-executive director at property developer Grosvenor Britain and Ireland. His experience will augment the Board’s property development knowledge at a time when the organisation is embarking on a major expansion of the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire. 

Diana Noble is currently Deputy Chair of the Court of Directors at the Bank of England. She will join the Board in November, and become Chair of the Remuneration Committee in January 2024. Diana has diverse board experience, including chairing the Board of trustees of The Children’s Society. She also chaired the Bank’s review into ethnic diversity and inclusion. 

Diana has nearly 20 years of Private Equity experience and formerly held an operational leadership role in global public health at the Clinton Health Access Initiative before taking on the role of CEO of CDC Group, the development finance institution of the UK government, now known as British International Investment.  

In these roles, Stephen and Diana’s shared experience in both public and private sectors, high-profile organisations, investment management and property will help shape and strengthen the Board’s collective oversight and support of our investment strategy and the investment team, as well as our ambitious property strategy – including the Wellcome Genome Campus expansion and net zero plans. 

Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone, powered by the returns from its £38bn investment portfolio. At the start of 2022, we announced plans to spend £16 billion over ten years to advance scientific discovery and take on the world’s most pressing health issues. 

Sir Stephen Lovegrove said: “I am delighted to be joining Wellcome as a Governor.  For almost a century it has been improving global health outcomes, and I am immensely looking forward to being part of that as its brilliant scientists face into the enormous challenges of the coming decades.” 

Diana Noble said: “Wellcome is an unique institution, with extraordinary reach and impact both in the UK and globally. The role of the Board is key in ensuring both strategy and execution optimise its positive impact on human health, and I am excited to be joining in support of this mission.”  

Julia Gillard, Chair of Wellcome, said: “I am delighted that Stephen and Diana will be joining Wellcome’s Board of Governors. I am excited to draw on their vast expertise from high-profile organisations, as well as their enthusiasm to help Wellcome achieve our mission of supporting science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. 

“The two new governors were selected from a strong list of candidates, and I would like to thank all those who applied for these roles.” 

*** 

Notes to Editors 

The two new Board roles were advertised earlier this year, with Julia Gillard, the chair of Wellcome’s Board of Governors, leading the appointment process.  

Sir Stephen Lovegrove and Diana Noble will be joining Wellcome on 6 November.