Goodwill Ambassador, UNIDO
After a military career spanning twelve years (1940-1952)
Sir Ronald Grierson became a banker and industrialist
but continued his public service by holding at different
times government and government-related posts.
During the war Sir Ronald held a commission in the Black
Watch Regiment and was seconded to the Special Air Service
(SAS) from which he was demobilised at the end of 1947.
He subsequently commanded the first peace-time SAS unit
as a Territorial officer from 1948 until 1952. During
a short interval in his military service (1948) he was
attached to the United Nations in Geneva as personal
assistant to the Executive Secretary of the Economic
Commission for Europe.
From 1952 until 1996 Sir Ronald served both as Managing Director of S.G. Warburg,
the merchant bank, and as Vice Chairman of the General Electric Company (ultimately
chairman of GEC International) as well as on the boards of other US and European
corporations.
His commercial career was punctuated on four occasions by government service:
(1) as Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of the U.K. Industrial Reorganisation
Corporation (2) as Director-General of the European Commission in Brussels (3)
as Executive Chairman of the South Bank Arts Centre in London (4) as adviser
to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
He continues to be on boards and advisory boards in Europe and the USA and is
chairman of several international philanthropic bodies in the fields of medicine,
education and music, among them Action Against Hunger, The Voices Foundation,
The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, etc.
He is Commander of the Légion d’honneur (France), of the Order of
Merit of the Republic of Italy and of the Order of Merit (Germany) and holder
of the Decoration of Honour (Austria).
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