Programme & speakers
John McFarlane OBE (MBA 1975, Honorary Graduand 2012)
John McFarlane has had a distinguished career spanning almost five decades in banking and financial services. He has served as CEO or Chairman of four major financial institutions, including ANZ, Aviva, Barclays, and most recently, Westpac in Australia. John’s leadership at ANZ led to the formation of ANZ National Bank, New Zealand’s largest bank.
His extensive experience includes roles as Group Executive Director at Standard Chartered and Head of Citicorp/Citibank in the UK and Ireland. He has held non-executive directorships with The Royal Bank of Scotland, Old Oak Holdings, and Capital Radio, and spent 15 years as a director with Westfield Holdings, Westfield Corporation, and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in Paris.
John has significantly contributed to various government and regulatory bodies, including the Auditing Practices Board, the UK Financial Services Trade and Investment Board, and TheCityUK during the UK's Brexit negotiations. He has received deserved recognition, including the FTSE 100 Non-Executive Director of the Year award while at Aviva, the Order of the British Empire, and the Freedom of the City of London by special nomination.
John holds an MA from the University of Edinburgh, and both an MBA and an honorary Doctor of Science from Cranfield University. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and has banking and securities fellowships in Hong Kong, Australia, and the UK. John is also a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers and The Guild of Freemen.
At Cranfield, John has served on the School of Management’s International Advisory Board, and he is an active member and supporter of the Australian Alumni Community and Scholarship. He has maintained the highly-coveted McFarlane Spirit of Cranfield Prize and the Cranfield Leadership Prize for decades to recognise two Full-Time MBA students who respectively exemplify the values of the Cranfield MBA community and have the greatest leadership potential, as voted by their peers.
Cranfield is privileged to interview John about his life and career. He will discuss “Leading Major Companies as CEO or Chair”, reflecting on key moments that defined his leadership journey. The session will include an interview and an interactive Q&A.