Cranfield Professor Bill Sheddon Receives Lifetime Achievement Award After Death
Bill Shedden was a treasure at the Cranfield School of Management. He passed away last month after suffering a stroke, yet his legacy lives on.
UNICON: Consortium for University-Based Executive Education awarded Shedden with a Lifetime Achievement Award, according to a recent news release. The announcement was made in Paris at the consortium’s annual board meeting last month.
Shedden spent 15 years at Cranfield. He joined as the director of the Centre for Customised Executive Development (CCED). He also served on UNICON’s board from 2007 to 2013 and was the board chair in 2011. The consortium described him as a “collaborator” who “effectively competed with top schools for the most prestigious client engagements.”
“All of our members bring value, but every now and then, there are certain individuals who show outstanding commitment and whose contributions surpass what is expected,” UNICON Executive Director Bill Scheurer said in a press release. “Bill was fully engaged in UNICON activities for many years and was well respected as a thought leader and for his gracious and kind manner.”
Cranfield colleagues also grieved Shedden’s sudden departure. Dr. John Glen, who works in the business and now directs the CCED, said, in a press release:
“The external recognition of Bill’s inestimable contribution to executive development only captures part of what made Bill Shedden the man he was. Bill was a fabulous leader who gave generously of his time to help his colleagues be the best that they could be. A man of endless patience, he would listen to the concerns of all his team and use his influence and network to broker solutions to their problems. His experience as a trade union negotiator in the 1970s and early 1980s gave Bill a skill set which made negotiating with clients so much easier for those of us who did not have his experience.”
Glen went on to describe the late professor as a “father figure.” Shedden leaves behind a daughter and son, Natalie and Daniel, respectively, as well as grandchildren.
