Two new William Pitt Fellows admitted

The Pembroke College Corporate Partnership Programme has recently admitted two new William Pitt Fellows – the first admission ceremonies to take place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

David Bateman (1993) was admitted to his William Pitt Fellowship on Friday 8th December 2021, with his company Capven. David is an alumnus of Pembroke and works in corporate consulting, where he advises organisations during periods of high growth or restructuring. He has a particular focus on effective corporate governance and organisational change, and how this has a positive impact on a business’s success. His company, Capven, joined the Corporate Partnership Programme in 2021, with Dr Simon Learmount as his Corporate Fellow. David brought one guest to the ceremony, his uncle Peter Drew (1972), who is also an alumnus of the college and the person who inspired David to apply to Pembroke.

Richard Rawcliffe, from Dell, was admitted two months later on Tuesday 8th February 2022. Richard is the Vice President and General Manager of the UK Public Sector business at Dell Technologies, having initially joined Dell in 2003. He is an active supporter of the Employee Resource Groups within Dell, as well as being heavily involved in Dell’s Corporate Social Responsibility programmes. Dell joined the Corporate Partnership Programme in 2021, with Professor Mike Payne as their Corporate Fellow. Richard was accompanied by a large delegation from Dell, who attended as his guests, and engaged throughout the day in productive conversations about our future relationship – we are excited to work with them on a number of initiatives including their STEM Aspire programme.

William Pitt Fellowship admission ceremonies are held in the Thomas Gray Room and involve the signing of the official College books, followed by the gowning of the new Pitt Fellow, and dinner at High Table. As an alumnus and matriculated member of the College, David had fewer books to sign during the ceremony – however, his original signature from 1993 was on display throughout the ceremony, as was the 1993 matriculation photo!

Present at both ceremonies were Corporate Fellows Dr Mark Wormald, Dr Simon Learmount and Dr Mike Payne. One of our existing William Pitt Fellows, Dr Richard Parmee (1970), attended both ceremonies, and David returned as a guest to Richard’s. 

We are delighted to welcome David and Richard as our newest William Pitt Fellows, and looking forward to our future working relationships with both Capven and Dell.