Image: David Lake Photography Ltd
Funder announces director will step up to executive chair role in October
UK Research and Innovation has appointed an interim leader for Innovate UK, the country’s national innovation body.
The funder announced on 5 August that Stella Peace (pictured)—Innovate UK’s executive director for healthy living and agriculture—will become its interim executive chair in October this year.
Peace has worked for Innovate UK for a year, having previously held research leadership roles in industry. These include vice-president of R&D for foods and refreshment science and technology at consumer goods giant Unilever, and most recently as chief R&D and quality officer at Nomad Foods.
UKRI chief executive Ottoline Leyser said: “Stella has proven herself an accomplished leader at Innovate UK. I am deeply grateful to her for taking the helm as interim executive chair and I am looking forward to working with her in her new role.”
Current Innovate UK chief executive officer Indro Mukerjee will step down at the end of September after three and a half years in the role.
On Mukerjee’s contribution, Leyser added: “Indro has been a transformational leader of Innovate UK. His passion and commitment to the UK’s innovators has been unwavering.”