Sir William Castell is chairman of the Wellcome Trust, the largest charity in the United Kingdom and one of the world's largest biomedical research charities. Prior to taking up this appointment, Sir William was president and chief executive officer of GE Healthcare, the global medical diagnostics and biosciences business of the General Electric Company, of which he was also a vice chairman. Sir William remains a director of the General Electric Company; he is a non-executive director of British Petroleum; a director on the board of the National Bureau of Asian Research; and he serves as a member of the Prime Minister's Business Council for Britain. Before its acquisition by GE in April 2004, Sir William was chief executive of Amersham plc. Sir William held various positions with The Wellcome Foundation prior to joining Amersham. A knighthood was bestowed for his services to the life sciences industry in June 2000. A strong proponent of business being active in society, Sir William participated in Business in the Community's work to revitalize areas blighted by unemployment and social exclusion. In 1998, he was appointed Chairman of The Prince's Trust by HRH The Prince of Wales and served in this role for five years. In January 2004, he received the honor Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order for services to the Royal Family. Sir William served as a member of the United Kingdom's Medical Research Council from 2001 to 2004; he is an Honorary Fellow at Green Templeton College Oxford; an Honorary Fellow of the University of Cardiff; an Honorary Fellow of King's College London; and an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Sir William received his B.A. in Business Studies from the City of London College. click here to visit the Wellcome Trust webpage click here to listen to his presentation at the June 2009 Salzburg Global Seminar board meeting