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Bill Shedden, who sadly passed away last month, has been recognised by UNICON (Consortium for University based Executive Education) with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his enormous contribution to Executive Education.

The award was announced at the UNICON Annual Board Meeting which took place in Paris on 18 July. The meeting opened with a moment of silence in honour of Bill.

Bill, who joined Cranfield in 2002 as Director of the Centre for Customised Executive Development (CCED), served on the UNICON board from 2007 to 2013, and as the board chair in 2011. Bill hosted the highly successful 2013 UNICON Directors’ Conference at Cranfield and continued to play a key role in the organisation as a contributing member of various committees, most recently helping to frame the ‘Organizational Models’ research project, which was published earlier this year.

Professor Lynette Ryals, Interim Director of Cranfield School of Management, who worked with Bill for many years commented: “Under Bill’s leadership Cranfield became a global leader in the provision of executive development, much of which was down to Bill’s inspirational and innovative leadership. We are all very pleased to see UNICON paying tribute to Bill in this way and recognising the significant impact he had on executive education around the world.

Bill Scheurer, UNICON’s Executive Director said: “All of our members bring value, but every now and then, there are certain individuals who show outstanding commitment and whose contributions surpass what is expected. Bill was fully engaged in UNICON activities for many years and was well respected as a thought leader and for his gracious and kind manner.

For those who knew Bill, his accomplishments don’t begin to describe the magnitude of this man. He was much loved by his UNICON colleagues. Bill was trustworthy, respectful, responsible and very friendly. It seemed that every conversation with Bill ended with his signature smile. We have lost a great friend and a great man.

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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.