Honorary awards bestowed on leading figures
Lord Karan Bilimoria, Alison (Debbie) Hewitt, Badr Jafar and Professor Hau L Lee recognised at London Business School’s annual Congregation celebration
London Business School (LBS) recognised leading figures from business and academia at the School’s annual Congregation celebrations.
Honorary Fellowships
Lord Karan Bilimoria, Alison (Debbie) Hewitt and Badr Jafar have been made Honorary Fellows of LBS. Honorary Fellowships are awarded for exceptional service to the School and/or outstanding distinction in business. Fellowships are reserved for present or former members of School staff and alumni.
Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL is founder of the award-winning Cobra Beer brand and Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited. He was the founding Chairman of the UK India Business Council and has served as a Senior Non-Executive Director of the Booker Group (now Tesco plc). Lord Bilimoria has also served as President of the Confederation of British Industry and as a board member of the International Chamber of Commerce. In 2014, he became the first India-born Chancellor of a Russell Group University, University of Birmingham, and he is the current President of the UK Council for International Students Affairs.
Debbie Hewitt MBE is the current Non-Executive Chair of Visa Europe Limited, ComparetheMarket.com, The Football Association (FA) and White Stuff Limited, and has previously served as Non-Executive Chairman of Evander Group, HPI Limited, The Restaurant Group plc, Moss Bros Group plc and HR Owen plc. In 2021, she became the first female Chair of The FA in its 160-year history; she is also a current Vice President of football world governing body FIFA Council - the first British female elected to the role.
Badr Jafar is a business executive and social entrepreneur from the UAE. He is CEO of diversified business, Crescent Enterprises and President of the first independent and privately-owned petroleum company in the Middle East, Crescent Petroleum. He is the appointed Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy, UAE. Mr Jafar’s humanitarian work has included serving on the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing and UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education. He founded the Pearl Initiative, a non-profit, private sector-led organisation committed to promoting a corporate culture of transparency and accountability across the Gulf Region.
Honorary Degree
Dr Hau L Lee, the Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology, Emeritus at Stanford Graduate School of Business, has been awarded an Honorary Degree from LBS. Honorary Degrees are conferred on people of conspicuous merit, who are outstanding in their field or who have given exceptional service to the School.
Professor Lee is a global supply chain and value chain expert, and a former Editor-in-Chief of the leading academic journal, Management Science. He has a particular interest in the use of value chains to promote welfare and economic growth in developing economies, and has been recognised by multiple industry organisations. In 2014, the Production and Operations Management Society awarded him its Wickham Skinner Best Paper Award for his co-authored paper, ‘The Impact of Logistics Performance on Trade’. Professor Lee was the founding faculty director of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Development Economies and founding director of the Stanford Value Chain Innovations Initiative. He is currently an advisor on supply chains to the US Department of Commerce.
