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Rachel Skinner

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Rachel Skinner
CBE FREng FICE
BornDecember 1976 (age 47)
NationalityBritish
Education
OccupationEngineer
Children3
Engineering career
DisciplineCivil Engineering
InstitutionsInstitution of Civil Engineers
AwardsMost distinguished winner of 2017 & best woman civil engineer 2017 at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards. Top 50 Women in Engineering, 2016

Rachel Susan Skinner CBE FREng FICE (née Bass; born December 1976) is a British civil engineer with Canadian-based consultant WSP Global. She was named one of the Daily Telegraph Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering in 2016 and both the Best Woman Civil Engineer and the Most Distinguished Winner at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards in 2017.[1][2] Skinner became the youngest president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 2020.[3] In 2019, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).[4] She was appointed CBE for services to infrastructure in the 2022 New Year Honours.[5]

Early life and education

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Skinner was born in December 1976. She attended Downe House School.[6] She earned a bachelor's degree with first-class honours in geography at Durham University.[7] She said that she "fell into engineering completely by chance" when she took a job as a transport planner in 1998.[8][9] In 2001, she was awarded a Master of Science degree in transportation planning and engineering with a distinction by the University of Leeds. In 2019 she returned to Durham to deliver the "Hatfield College Lecture."[10]

Career

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Skinner has been involved with the Institution of Civil Engineers since 2003, when she became a chartered engineer (CEng). She is also now a fellow of the institution (FICE), and sits on its Trustee Board,[8][11] and has chaired the ICE's London region in 2010, stood for Council in 2015 and was confirmed by the ICE council as succeeding vice president in April 2017. Skinner became president in November 2020.[12][13] She was the youngest person ever to hold the post of president of the ICE, and the second female president.[7] Skinner chaired the advisory board of the New Civil Engineer magazine between 2017 and November 2019.[14] Skinner is a qualified transport planning professional and also a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (FCIHT),[15] as well as an honorary fellow of the Society for the Environment.[16]

Skinner has held several senior positions at WSP Global, the consultancy and design firm, including as UK director of transportation planning and European director of marketing and communications for Parsons Brinckerhoff,[11] and in 2024, she is UK Director of Government Relations & Corporate Responsibility.[17] She is currently an executive director and head of transport for WSP's UK Planning & Advisory business where she leads around 600 staff delivering projects for public and private sector clients.[8]

Skinner helped to set up the Women in Transport (formerly Women's Transportation Seminar) network in London in June 2005 and is now one of its patrons, having been a founding member of its board and president from 2009 to 2013.[8][18] She was also Director of Tilson Close Management for seven years.

Skinner also works to encourage female students into taking up STEM subjects.[8] She is a regular industry speaker, the lead author of papers on the implementation of driverless vehicles including "Making Better Places" (2016),[19] "New Mobility Now" (2017)[20] and various prior publications on the application of digital technology to the construction industry, collaboration and innovation.

In 2018, Skinner was invited to become one of ten Commissioners for the newly formed Infrastructure Commission for Scotland.[21]

Skinner was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to infrastructure.[22] In the same year she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Leeds.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "The Inaugural Top 50 Women in Engineering 2016 (WE50)". Women's Engineering Society. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  2. ^ "2017 WINNERS". WICE Awards. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  3. ^ "ICE Trustee Board". Institution of Civil Engineers. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Rachel Skinner". Royal Academy of Engineering. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  5. ^ Hughes, David (5 January 2022). "The 2022 New Year's Honours list in full, and what the different ranks mean". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Alumnae success stories". Downe House Cloisters (19): 16. Summer 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b "WICE Awards". European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e "New opportunities that add up for women in engineering - Rachel Skinner, Executive Director & Head of Development at WSP / Parsons Brinckerhoff". Womanthology. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Congratulations Rachel Skinner". WTS International. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  10. ^ "The Hatfield College Lecture 2019". Durham University. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Rachel Skinner". Institution of Civil Engineers.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Two new Vice Presidents chosen for 2017/18". Institution of Civil Engineers. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Rachel Skinner". World Green Building Council. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  14. ^ "New Civil Engineer April 2017" (PDF). New Civil Engineer. April 2017. p. 67.
  15. ^ "Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering List 2016 | Women's Engineering Society". Women's Engineering Society.
  16. ^ a b "Past President Rachel Skinner Recognised With Honorary Degree From University Of Leeds". Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). 7 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  17. ^ WSP website, UK Leadership, retrieved 2024-05-08
  18. ^ UK Government website, Companies House section, Rachel Susan Skinner, retrieved 2024-05-08
  19. ^ "Making Better Places: driverless vehicles and opportunities" (PDF). www.wsp-pb.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  20. ^ "New Mobility Now - a practical guide | WSP". www.wsp.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  21. ^ "Infrastructure Commission for Scotland".
  22. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N10.


Professional and academic associations
Preceded by
Paul Sheffield
 President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
November 2020 – November 2021 		Succeeded by
Ed McCann
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