John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley

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For other notable people called John Browne, see John Browne (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable Edmund John Philip Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley, FRS (b. February 20,1948) is group Chief Executive of BP. He was born in Hamburg, Germany to a British Army officer and a Hungarian Auschwitz survivor. His father also worked in civilian life for Anglo-Persian Oil, which was later rebranded as British Petroleum and then as BP. He was educated at the King's School, Ely and St John's College, Cambridge, where he earned a First Class Bachelor's degree in Physics; he later obtained an MS from Stanford Business School. In May 2003, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines.

At the suggestion of his father, Browne joined BP as an apprentice in 1966 while still at university. He has served as group chief executive since 1995. He is a non-executive director of the Intel Corporation and Goldman Sachs, a trustee of the British Museum, a member of the Governing Body of the London Business School and a member of the Supervisory Board of DaimlerChrysler AG. He is also emeritus chairman of the Advisory Board of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Judge Business School, Cambridge as well as a trustee of The Conference Board, Inc. and a vice president and member of the board of the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum.

In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and in 2001 named as one of the "people's peers" taking the title Baron Browne of Madingley, of Cambridge in the County of Cambridgeshire, and becoming a crossbencher (independent member) in the House of Lords.

Under his leadership, BP recovered from its slump of the mid-1980s and has shaken up the staid oil industry.

From 1997, Browne challenged oil industry rejection of global warming and sought to recreate BP as a "green" energy company. The company was rebranded as "Beyond Petroleum". Though many dispute that an oil company can truly be environmentally sensitive, Browne has stated that the right to heat, light and mobility are crucial for people everywhere and that he sees his company's mission as to find ways to meet current needs without excessive harm to the environment, while developing future, more sustainable sources of energy. He has promised that BP will cut its emission of greenhouse gases by 10% by 2010.

In August 1998, Browne announced a $57 billion merger with Amoco. Later acquisitions of ARCO and Castrol kicked off a round of industry consolidations that saw the creation of today's oil "super majors".

In April 1999, Browne oversaw the acquisition of a controlling stake in Solarex, a solar energy company for $45 million - this and further investments of over $1 billion have made BP the world's largest producer of solar energy. The company has also invested in wind power. Some critics have suggested that other oil companies have done as much or more than BP in developing sustainable energy.

Lord Browne of Madingley is unmarried and lists fine cigars, antique furniture and the arts among his interests. He is one of the highest paid executives in the UK with a remuneration package of approximately £ 5.7 million in 2004. He is due to take over as President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in September 2006.

External links

[BP biographical sketch]

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