Leading Formula One and motorsport expert Pat Symonds has been appointed as a Visiting Professor at Cranfield University in a role that will utilise his expertise as a technology leader.
Professor Symonds is well known in the motor racing world, having worked in the industry for over 30 years. Born in Bedford, he studied and was awarded a Masters in automotive engineering from Cranfield. His illustrious career has included senior positions for some of the world’s most renowned motorsport teams including Williams F1, Renault and Benetton. He has worked with some of the fastest racing drivers on the planet including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.
This new role will use his extensive business and engineering expertise, from the competitive world of F1 and see him involved with modules on both the management school’s MBA and with the MSc in Motorsport.
Professor Symonds said: “It is a great honour to be appointed as a Visiting Professor at my alma mater and I hope that this will allow me to augment the guidance that I have given to the Motorsport course for many years with an increase in lecturing and supervision. I am particularly excited at the prospect of working with the MBA students which I hope will allow me to pass on my expertise at managing high potential and high performance teams in a coherent and focused manner.”
Sir Peter Gregson, Cranfield’s Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor, said: “Pat’s deep understanding of technology and leadership means he will bring proven insight and expertise to our programmes. Our students regularly engage with businesses through group project work and working with Pat will provide an added dimension.”
Professor Symonds has supported courses for the MSc in Motorsport at Cranfield since its inception in 2000. He is able to translate complex technological issues into language that everyone can understand, making him popular with students and media alike.
Cranfield has a long and successful track record of working with motorsport and high performance engineering companies; the Crash Impact Centre on campus is one of just three FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) approved test centres in the world, crash-testing Formula One cars.
About Cranfield University
Cranfield has been a world leader in management education and research for over 50 years, helping individuals and organisations learn and succeed by transforming knowledge into action. We are dedicated to creating responsible management thinking, improving business performance and inspiring the next generation of business leaders. We work to change the lives of our students and executives by encouraging innovation and creative thinking, as well as the drive to succeed and make a real impact on their organisations.
Organisations as diverse as Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems, Royal Dutch Shell, L’Oréal, UNICEF and the African Development Bank have benefited from our work, which ranges from management research projects, through staff talent management development on our MBA courses, to customised executive programmes.
Cranfield is one of an elite group of Schools worldwide to hold the triple accreditation of: AACSB International (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) and AMBA (the Association of MBAs).
We are in the Top 10 International Business Schools in the Forbes’ ranking.
Our open and customised executive education programmes are ranked in the top five in the UK, according to the latest Financial Times survey, and in the top ten in the world for international reach. Over 10,000 people come to Cranfield each year to benefit from our executive and professional development programmes.