Richard V. Giordano

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Biographical Information

"Sir Richard V. Giordano was born on March 24, 1934, in New York City, New York. He graduated from Harvard College in 1956 and got his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1959. After working as a lawyer with Shearman & Sterling in New York City, Sir Richard joined Airco Inc. in 1963 as Assistant Secretary. He was elected President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Airco in 1971. He became Chief Executive Officer in 1978, the same year Airco was acquired by the BOC Group. He was appointed Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of the BOC Group (then BOC International) in October 1979. From January 1985 to December 1990, he combined his position as Chief Executive of the BOC Group with that of Chairman, in succession to Sir Leslie Smith.

"In July 1982, Sir Richard was appointed a part-time member of the UK Central Electricity Generating Board and continued in that post until the privatization of the industry in 1989. He was a non-Executive Director of National Power, one of the privatized companies, until he retired from that Board in September 1992. He was a non-Executive Director of the US-based Georgia-Pacific Corporation for twenty years, until his retirement at the end of 2005. He was a non-Executive Director of Rio Tinto plc for fourteen years, until his retirement in 2005. At Rio Tinto, he served as lead Director for the last four years of his tenure.

"During the 1980s, Sir Richard served for three years as a non-Executive Director of Reuters plc. He also served for twelve years as a non-Executive Director and Deputy Chairman of Grand Metropolitan plc, until his retirement from that Board in December 1997. On January 1, 1994, he was appointed Chairman of British Gas plc. Following demerger in February 1997, he became Chairman of both companies (BG plc and Centrica). He relinquished the chairmanship of Centrica at the end of June 1997 and he relinquished the chairmanship of BG plc at the end of December 2003.

"In December 1989, Sir Richard was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire for his services to British Industry. In 2002, Sir Richard was granted British citizenship, which he holds with USA citizenship, and he was appointed an additional Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1994, he was elected an honorary Fellow of the London Business School. In 1995, he was elected an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Anesthetists, and in 1998 he was granted an honorary Doctorate of Laws by Bath University. Sir Richard has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace since 1999. He is a member and Chairman of its Investment Committee and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees in May 2009.

"In 2005, Sir Richard was appointed Chairman of CC Energy. He also serves as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. Sir Richard is also a member of the Links Club in New York and the New York Yacht Club. His principal residence is in Lakeville, Connecticut and he has homes in New York City, Maine and Mountain Lake in Lake Wales, Florida."

"Sir Richard was appointed non-executive Chairman of Oxara Energy Group on 26 July 2006. He has previously held a number of Board positions including Chairman / CEO of the BOC Group, Chairman / CEO of British Gas and Non-Executive Director positions with National Power, Rio Tinto, Grand Metropolitan and Reuters."

Affiliations

• Portfolio Chair, FF&P Private Equity