William Castell

Bill Castell, 56, was appointed President and CEO, GE Healthcare on April 8, 2004. In this role, Bill is responsible for the newly formed GE Healthcare. Bill joined Amersham plc in 1989 as Chief Executive. During his tenure, he has successfully refocused Amersham from a diverse range of medical, commercial and industrial technologies utilizing radioactivity into three businesses -- Medical Diagnostics, Discovery Systems and Protein Separations -- all focused on enabling molecular medicine.

Prior to joining Amersham, Bill held various positions with the Wellcome Foundation. In 1986 he was appointed Commercial Director, Wellcome plc. Previous positions with Wellcome included being appointed head of the newly formed Wellcome Biotechnology in 1980, and in 1976 he was named Head of Finance and Administration for Continental Europe, Africa and Asia.

Bill was knighted in June 2000 for services to the life sciences industry. He served in the United Kingdom from July 1998 to 2003 as the Appointed Chairman of the Prince’s Trust, a charity set up by the Prince of Wales in 1976. In January 2004 he was made Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order for services to the Royal Family.

In August 2001, Bill was appointed a member of the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council and in 2003 he joined the board of the Institute of Life Sciences of University of Michigan. He is a Trustee of London’s Natural History Museum and a Visiting Fellow at Green College, University of Oxford.

Bill received his BA with honors in Business Studies from the City of London College. He and his wife, Renice, have two daughters and a son.