Betty Thayer

Betty Thayer (born 1958) is a retired businesswoman who advocates for Women in Business and lectures on the role of the non-executive director. Thayer has been published as an expert on these topics.

Career

Thayer has recently (2008) been appointed a Non-Executive Director of the Appointments Commission, [1] a UK Non-Departmental Government body which oversees the appointments to National Health Service boards and other Government Departments. She serves on the Remuneration and Finance Committees.

Formerly Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Think London, Thayer has non-executive roles at the Piccola Accademia di Montisi in Italy and the Church Urban Fund.She is on the board of Bristol based Genius Consultancy (http://www.geniusconsultancy.co.uk). She is also on the board of the Bath Mozartfest Bath, Somerset[2] and is on the Advisory Board for the University of Bath School of Management. She lectures on Non-Executive Director roles and responsibilities as a visiting lecturer at the Cranfield School of Management.

She was CEO of Exec-Appointments LTD, a subsidiary of The Financial Times, part of Pearson plc, and the non-executive director of businesses in the online executive and board recruitment sector. Previously, she was a member of the management board at Lex Service PLC (now RAC plc) from 1995 to 1997. In her career at Ernst & Young and Andersen Consulting, she specialised in lean manufacturing.

In recent years, her views upon non-executive directorship have been drawn upon by a range of media outlets, including The UK Daily Telegraph[3] and the BBC [4] and BBC Radio 4's Today Programme[5].

A dual US and UK citizen, Thayer has an MBA from Vanderbilt University (1982) and is a Freeman of the City of London, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of World Traders, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants[6]. Thayer served as a panelist at the 5th Annual Women in Business Conference, held at London Business School [7], and was a judge at the Institute of Company Secretary’s (ICSA) Secretary of the Year Awards in October 2007.[8].

Publications

1. Portfolio Working - Plural Careers Prove to Be a Singular Success. A survey by exec-appointments.com and IDDAS.

1. 50 Under 50 - Views from Chairs of the Future. with Ernst & Young UK, 2006

1. Why Does the Strategic Agenda Remain Elusive?. with Ernst & Young UK, 2007

References

1. http://www.rec-con.co.uk/article.php/News/Moving_on_/1954
2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/11/20/ccboard20.xml
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6641661.stm
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/zmonday_20031027.shtml
5. http://www.wcomc.org.uk/tclist.asp?member_type_id=100
6. http://conference.wiblondon.org/2004/panels_future.html
7. http://www.icsaevents.com/PDFs/ICSA_Awards_2007_Leaflet.pdf
8. http://www.mba-direct.com/WIB.aspx
9. http://www2.owen.vanderbilt.edu/inside/april2004.htm
10. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2006/11/16/edurankings.xml
11. http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Thayer_Betty_6863233.aspx
12. http://www.onrec.com/content2/news.asp?ID=10880
13. http://www.management-issues.com/2006/8/24/research/the-old-boy-network-is-alive-and-well.asp
14. http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/news_events/news/2005/28-2.html
15. http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/422624/the-unusual-suspects/