John Chisholm

Sir John Chisholm became the Executive Chairman of QinetiQ in 2005, after 15 years as the Company’s Chief Executive. He became non-executive Chairman of QinetiQ in October 2006. Sir John is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Institute of Physics, and is currently a Trustee and President of the Institute of Engineering & Technology (formerly the Institution of Electrical Engineers). He is a frequent speaker on change management, technology and defence science issues. He has been President of the Electrical Engineering Association and was a founder member of the UK Government's Technology Foresight programme. Knighted in 1999, Chisholm was appointed as the Chairman of the Medical Research Council.

Chisholm made millions when the research division of QinetiQ was privitised under the stewardship of Lewis Moonie. American private equity company Carlyle Group bought the assets for an eightth of their value. Chisholm managed to turn £129,000 into £22 million when the research arm was floated. Speaking to the Guardian Lord Gillbert, who gave evidence to the National Audit Office in relation to the matter said "At the time I told the defence secretary (George Robertson) that this would be a bloody scandel but the treasury under Gordon Brown insisted on selling a stake in the agency to cut the defence budget...Frankly the money made by by the leading civil servants was obscene. This is shown by the facts themselves. They did not contribute anything to the turnaround of the company"