Kingston graduate Ruby McGregor-Smith has been named in the Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power List

Posted Friday 8 March 2013

Kingston alumna Ruby McGregor-Smith Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, who studied economics at Kingston, has been named as one of the United Kingdom's most powerful women by BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour.

Currently Chief Executive Officer of MITIE Group PLC, Ruby joined 100 other notable women on the inaugural Woman's Hour Power List, which encompasses all areas from business, stage, screen, broadcasting, politics, charities to public life and the arts. The list included the Queen, Theresa May MP, Carol Ann Duffy, Clare Balding, Joanne Lumley, Stella McCartney, Shami Chakrabarti and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Ruby, who graduated from Kingston University in 1985 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2011, thanked Woman's Hour and said she was "delighted for my industry". She also took to Twitter to thank her followers for the "very kind tweets" about her inclusion on the list. Ruby is one of a small number of women holding the position of chief executive in the FTSE 250 and was the first Asian woman to be appointed to such a role in that group.

Woman's Hour editor, Alice Feinstein, said: "These women include role models, game-changers and women who are challenging thinking in their areas as well as hiring, firing, influencing and spending. We will use this list as a springboard from which to discuss the contribution all women make to society and to ask why there isn't greater diversity in the list."

The Power List judging panel included former Fleet Street editor Eve Pollard, labour peer Oona King, crime writer Val McDermid and journalist Dawn O'Porter. Thousands of names were nominated by the public, and the results followed three months of interviews and debate on the programme, plus views from experts.

Judge Eve Pollard added: "Inevitably not everyone will agree with the 100 we have chosen. There are some omissions. For example, we had long debates about the Duchess of Cambridge. Is she influential? Hugely. Is she powerful? Not yet. What this list does is shine a light on those sectors where too few women are getting to the top, like politics, FTSE companies, the military and journalism. Our legacy, we hope, is that this list might change that.'

You can read more about Ms McGregor-Smith on Kingston University's Wall of Fame.
Find out more about studying economics at Kingston University.

Categories: Alumni, Enterprise and business