What is the colour of John’s tie and why does matter? It might sound like an interview question, and while we’re sure many candidates could give a good answer the answer is: the colour of the tie is burgundy with a flying pink elephant on it. The tie is only worn by members of The Twizzler Club, a club dedicated to giving back to Cranfield by volunteering and organising events.
John Hingston (MSc Industrial Engineering and Administration 1968) has one of these ties as a reminder of his time at Cranfield, and it’s particularly important because John was a recipient of a scholarship. Without that scholarship he would not have been able to come to Cranfield, and Cranfield transformed his life.
“Through the generosity of Cranfield I was given a full scholarship. The scholarship means everything in the sense that it gave me opportunities which I would never have had.”
John Hingston (MSc Industrial Engineering and Administration 1968)
As a result of his Cranfield scholarship, not only did John achieve an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Administration but he went on to work for large corporations, and progress into senior management and Board roles, but it was during his time at Cranfield that he met his wife and it gave him the opportunity to emigrate to Australia.
John is now in a position to make a difference to the next generation of Cranfield students and recently launched the John Hingston Scholarship with a philanthropic gift. You can find out more about John’s story by watching the video below.
Philanthropic gifts don’t just have to support scholarships and bursaries. Grenville Turner (Executive MBA 1992) is a keen supporter of Cranfield University and his support enabled the University to open the Grenville Turner Online Suite.
The Grenville Turner Online Suite hosts a green screen studio, a webinar studio and a hi-tech control gallery which enables academics to deliver teaching programmes entirely online. The innovative facility is already being used to deliver the postgraduate engineering apprenticeship programme, which Cranfield has developed in partnership with BAE Systems.
“I am thrilled to be able to support such fantastic facilities at Cranfield. The innovative nature of the technology within the suite will change the way that academics can spread their expertise and make further education accessible to more students across the globe.”
Grenville Turner (Executive MBA 1992)
