Professor Alan Barrell
Areas of Interest
BusinessHonorary Award
Honorary Doctor of Business Administration, 2014Biography
Professor Alan Barrell is Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge University's Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning. He is also Distinguished Guest Professor at Xiamen University in China and Commercial Director of Cambridge Healthcare Ltd.
Alan's achievements have been widely recognised and in 2006 he received The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion, then in 2011 was conferred the Honour of Knight First Class, Order of the White Rose of Finland.
Alan has a long and successful association with Anglia Ruskin University and as Chief Executive of MedTech International, his experience and expertise is a valuable asset to our MedBIC campus. His entrepreneurial spirit matched with his philanthropic intent make him a first class role model for our students, especially those involved in The Big Pitch, will benefit greatly from his experience and his example.
Citation
"Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to read the citation for Professor Alan Barrell for the award of Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa.
Professor Alan Barrell is Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge University's Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning. He is also Distinguished Guest Professor at Xiamen University in China and Commercial Director of Cambridge Healthcare Ltd.
Alan is one of those rare individuals who combine outstanding academic achievement with a hard-edged commercial acumen. He began his career in clinical laboratory medicine at the NHS before moving to Baxter Healthcare, where he worked for seventeen years and was to spend six years as UK Chief Executive. And it was here that he gained a deep insight into the challenges of doing business in an increasingly globalised environment.
Alan then moved on to become Managing Director of Domino Printing Sciences, steering the company towards its successful flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 1985. His next move was to electronics manufacturer Willett International Group as CEO, where he set about expanding their operations across the globe.
Although possessed of a truly international outlook, Alan has always maintained close links with our region. He has been Chairman of Health Enterprise East Ltd, an organisation that seeks to exploit innovative inventions, processes and procedures in the National Health Service within the Eastern Region. And Alan played a key role in the launch of the Cambridge Gateway Fund - a 70 million Euro fund to support early-stage technology businesses in our region.
As Chief Executive of MedTech International, Alan now uses his close links with China to promote inward investment into our region from the Chinese healthcare sector.
It is Alan's ability to apply academic insights and knowledge within a commercial environment that perhaps defines his career. In 2012 he worked as a founding director of the International Commercialization Alliance - an organisation that encourages the adoption of best practice in transforming research into usable, profitable products. And during 2012 and 2013, Alan played a significant role in the development of new approaches to entrepreneurial education to develop effective entrepreneurs - a project that was built upon the close collaboration between universities and businesses in the UK, Finland, USA and China.
Today, Alan is heavily involved in supporting dynamic start-up businesses, and he sits on the board of four early-stage companies in the life sciences sector being Chairman of three. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs and International Advisor to Youth Business China. A recent focus has been on the fast developing world of Innovative Enterprise Finance including Crowdfunding. Alan is also a member of the investor groups Cambridge Angels and Sophia Business Angels.
Alan's achievements have been widely recognised and in 2006 he received The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion, then in 2011 was conferred the Honour of Knight First Class, Order of the White Rose of Finland.
Alan has been involved with a variety of charitable organisations, including the Papworth Trust, the Royal Society of Arts, the Centre for Tomorrow's Company, and The Prince's Trust. His stated vision is to promote 'education without borders' and 'business without borders' to help create a 'world without borders'. This aim sits well with our commitment to wider international collaboration.
Alan has a long and successful association with Anglia Ruskin Universtiy and as Chief Executive of MedTech International, his experience and expertise will be a valuable asset to the MedBIC campus. His entrepreneurial spirit matched with his philanthropic intent make him a first class role model for our students, especially those involved in The Big Pitch, will benefit greatly from his experience and his example. We are proud to welcome him into the Anglia Ruskin family.
Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to present Professor Alan Barrell for the award of Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa."