After I graduated, I continued to work in the asset management industry in Japan and Hong Kong. I have worked for a Japanese company, a German company and international joint ventures as a senior analyst and Head of Research. Currently, I am CEO of Nippon Life Global Investors Singapore, a joint venture between Japanese insurance group and British asset management company, and have lived in Singapore for 8 years.

I strongly believe that what I learned at Lancaster University helped my career a lot. I really appreciate Lancaster University and now it is the time for me to contribute to the university.

During his career, he has spearheaded innovative solutions for the industry and pioneered important changes within the Desbro Group. Most recently, the introduction of largest diameter Rebar of 40mm is being fully utilised for long span bridge construction work.

He is founding member of DRS Holdings Ltd, Mesh & Steel Trading Ltd, and sits as Board Member/Acting Chairman for all companies under the Desbro Group. He values the DNA of all family enterprises for their resilience, and strong commitment to business growth.

He’s now convinced that a philanthropic donation in education has a great impact that can relatively easily be measured and linked to personal, economic and social empowerment. That explains why he was so thrilled to accept the chapter’s presidency position when it was offered to him and he pledged to provide immediate support.

Studying at Lancaster was pivotal in Alaa’s career, he enjoyed the world-class education and the cohort that represented more than 20 nationalities. When he returned to Saudi Arabia, his newly acquired competencies helped him to progress in the banking and investment industry and then leadership and management consulting. After completing 20 years of executive work, Alaa switched to a portfolio career and he is now a Board Director in numerous companies and advisory boards. Alaa is considered an opinion leader in the GCC and recently his name was included in the LinkedIn “Top Voices of the Gulf” list for 2020. His areas of focus are corporate governance, gender diversity in the board, women empowerment, wealth management and the promotion of tourism and foreign direct investment in his country.

See more here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaaalhashem/

The Finance/Accounting and Finance class consisted of 55 persons with students coming from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. This wide exposure to people from all over the world with different languages, different backgrounds and different views made it clear to me that I wanted to have an international career.

Leaving Lancaster with the MSc Finance I continued to study in Spain and Germany. Thereafter I started to work for the automotive company Daimler AG in various roles mainly in sales and marketing.

In the last two decades, I had the chance to work and live in Brazil, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, USA and the United Arab Emirates. This “Tour around the World” has started in Lancaster and the experience for my family and me was truly extraordinary.

I am honoured that Lancaster University offered me a philanthropic role for the UAE. It is a great opportunity to support Lancaster University so that students from all backgrounds continue to have the chance to get a world-class education in an inspiring environment.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Commerce at Symbiosis International University, Pune; Rohit went onto make a mark with his higher education at Lancaster University specializing in the field of Master of Science in International Business (Economics), which would sustainably aid him to further strengthen and grow his family business.

After successfully graduating from Lancaster University, Rohit went on to purchase a franchise of “The Business Growth Show, London,” and successfully organized multiple events and supported over 2,000 Small Medium Businesses in the London area, thereby, garnering support from the Westminster Business Council, Federation of Small Businesses, UK, etc.

As he moved back to India, after his successful stint in the UK, Rohit’s dynamic business gene gained its momentum as his leadership skills and the new wave of thinking brought forth a versatile league of business verticals under the AKB Group worldwide. The journey began with him taking control of the dealership of Polaris Industries in Bangalore. Post which the remaining propositions started mobilizing, which today led forth to him being able to manage and control operations in over 30 retail points across the country.

Currently, Rohit directly owns & runs the company’s operations in the retail and lifestyle segments, including global names such as — Häagen-Dazs, Polaris, BodyCoat, and Kamadhenu products and services. He also foresees expanding his dynamic business ventures into the UK & European market as well. As an enterprising leader, he firmly believes in the value of working as a team with an immense focus on quality, care, and customer satisfaction at whatever he does. His motto is firmly built on three pillars — “Principle, Policy, and Procedure” as well as “Discipline, Integrity, and Result”.

As a sanguine businessman and an even more ardent sportsman, Rohit has also represented Lancaster University successfully, as a former professional badminton player who has played internationally. Also an avid environmentalist, he believes in giving back to mother earth in any manner possible to help save, protect and encourage the planting of more trees; thereby paving a way forward for an eco-conscious community. As a driven leader, Rohit also believes in sharing his learnings with the younger generation of business professionals by motivating them through public speeches on various topics such as — personal growth, & business seminars in multiple countries.

Rohit owes the credit of his success in life to his parents who have been an integral part of shaping his ideologies morally, ethically, & professionally. He also gives thanks to his alma mater — Lancaster University for providing him with the brilliant education opportunity which has made his entrepreneurial journey even more impactful.

It was through Lancaster and Rice that I was able to make sufficient connections to pursue a career in the United States which is where I now reside. My career initially focused on providing expert witness testimony and analysis related to economic damages in lawsuits and performing fraud and corruption investigations. I have been lucky enough to work on projects across the United States and in Central America, South America and Asia.

After the financial crisis of 2008, my practice began to concentrate on consumer finance, particularly with respect to risk mitigation, compliance and governance. I am currently a Senior Managing Director in the Financial Services practice of FTI Consulting, Inc. My clients are typically retail and investment banks, auto finance captives, non-bank mortgage servicers, student loan organizations and their law firms. I help those clients maintain compliance with the myriad of consumer finance rules and regulations that exist in the United States. My work results in interaction with various banking regulators including the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice.

Lancaster University had such a material impact on not only my career, but my life as a whole and I am hopeful that by supporting the University in this way it will continue to have a similar impact on many others.

Florian worked on buy-side and sell-side transactions across a variety of sectors with a strong focus on the Water industry in recent years.

Florian started his career at Deloitte in Vienna, Austria where he specialised on Valuation Services and Financial Modelling.

He was educated in Vienna for his Magister degree in Economics and Law, and came to Lancaster for his Master's in Accounting and Financial Management.

Outside of his professional career, he has achieved sporting success competing at an international level in Judo.

Simon’s speciality is at the cutting edge of innovation and organisation across Asian markets. To be successful you need to have a deep understanding of different cultures and history and that’s where Lancaster comes in.

Looking back now History at Lancaster (Cartmel 83) was a serious blast – focused on Empires and resistance movements across Asia and Africa. It was a perfect preparation for working and living abroad in Hong Kong, KL, Shanghai and Guangzhou and now Australia!

At the time my family was running a small mushroom farm back home. During every vacation that we had I was coming back home and helping however I could. We started transforming the company to work with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. At the beginning I held two positions – delivery driver and translator if somebody needed any kind of international communication.

After living a bit in Lancaster, I realized that there is nothing that scary or insurmountable for me to make the best years of my life come to fruition. Overcoming this fear was the best decision I have ever made. I concluded that I have picked an overly broad course (Economics and Politics) which was perfect for my situation since I could pick courses from different departments. During my three years in Lancaster, I was picking courses that could directly enhance my view of the world from different perspectives and could help me in any company that was willing to hire me. I forayed into accounting, industrial organization, philosophy, statistics. Lancaster University managed to teach me communication, research skills, analytical thinking and a multitude of other skills that are required to be successful later in life. As an added bonus during my last year, I met my wife on campus and now we have two beautiful children.

After graduating I decided to head back home to Bulgaria and work for the family business. As every company we faced a lot of challenges which were also exacerbated by the fact that my bosses are my relatives. Since I came back home my brother and sister also decided to join the company. Together we grew from a small mushroom producer to one of the biggest and most innovative fruit and vegetable suppliers in Eastern Europe. We deliver to retailers, wholesale markets, military bases, schools, daycares, etc.

Five years ago, we decided that it is time to give back to the local community. We started what today is the biggest organization of agricultural producers in our country. We helped local growers become more innovative, abide international standards and certify them on an international level. This is now my primary focus in the company. We managed to build great relationships with partners in all parts of the fruits and vegetables supply chain – seeds, fertilizers, packaging, logistics, etc. This is how we managed to satisfy our customers and also help thousands of people save their livelihood.

I do not know in what area my next endeavour will be. It does not really matter. In every part of the world, in every country and in every company hard work and ambition will always be valued and respected.

I am currently Chairman of the Board of Mayfair Insurance Tanzania, Board Member of M Oriental Bank in Kenya, Trustee of Indian School, Dar es Salaam and Trustee of Human Welfare Trust (HWT). I have previously been an Independent Non Executive Board Member of Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania Limited, Alliance Insurance Limited and Board Member of International School of Tanganyika, first alumni to become a Board Member.

I have been ranked in the top 15 most respected CEO’s in East Africa by PWC.

Many of us take education for granted. My own experience while working with HWT showed a different perspective. HWT was providing a couple of meals to the children on the street and education was a distant hope. I jointly with HWT placed the street children in a house with food, education and medical treatment being taken care of. This was my awakening call and since then have focused on supporting individuals who need support with their education requirements.

I have a lot of fond memories of my days at Lancaster and am in touch with many alumni. I am delighted to take up a role as an Ambassador for the University and, in my own small way, to assist students achieve their dreams.

I am married to Rita and have a son and daughter in law. I enjoy a good book, travelling around the world, smashing the ball against a wall and getting all my frustrations out, better known as squash and cycle around the neighbourhood in the name of exercise.

Prior to joining GoDaddy in 2019, Aman spent nearly a decade at Expedia Inc., where he served as Brand Expedia Group president from 2015 to 2019 and chief technology officer and SVP of worldwide engineering from 2010 to 2015. Prior to joining Expedia, Aman served as senior vice president at JP Morgan Chase.

In 2018, Aman was elected to the board of directors of The New York Times Company serving the Audit and Finance committees.

He earned his MBA from Lancaster University in Lancashire, England, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Delhi University. Aman and his family live in Seattle, Washington.