Dame Polly Courtice.

Elected until: 2026. First elected: 2022. Nationalities: British and South African.

Dame Veronica Anne (“Polly”) Courtice, was born in Johannesburg in 1952. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in African History and Archaeology from the University of Cape Town and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Cambridge.

Dame Polly Courtice began her career in 1974 as a curator at the South African Museum of Natural History. She later embarked on a marketing career in publishing in the United Kingdom before taking up a position at Cambridge University. From 1989, Dame Polly Courtice was Deputy Director – and from 2000 to 2021, Director – of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). She is now Fellow of the Institute and is Chair of the Advisory Board for the University’s Impact Accelerators. In addition, Dame Polly Courtice is Chair of the Faculty Board of Engineering, a Fellow of Churchill College and an Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge. She has an Honorary Doctorate from UiT - The Arctic University of Norway.

Dame Polly Courtice is a Sustainability Advisor to Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd.

Dame Polly Courtice is a member of the following other legally mandatory supervisory boards and comparable supervisory bodies:

• Mercedes-Benz AG (group mandate)
• British Standards Institution