Graham Clive Watts

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

MCMI

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

MRICS

FRIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

CIBSE The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE; pronounced 'sib-see') is an international professional engineering association based in London, England that represents building services engineers. It is a full member of the Co ...

(born 5 August 1956) is chief executive of the

Construction Industry Council Construction Industry Council may refer to: * Construction Industry Council (Hong Kong) * Construction Industry Council (United Kingdom) Construction Industry Council (CIC) is the representative forum for professional bodies, research organisati ...

. He was also manager of Great Britain's

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

team at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and chairman of the

National Dance Awards The National Dance Awards are presented annually in the United Kingdom by The Critics' Circle, and are awarded to recognise excellence in professional dance. They are widely regarded as the most prestigious award presented for dance in the UK, a ...

. He was awarded the

in 2008.

Life

Watts was born on 5 August 1956 and educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

Westfield College, London Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

and University College, Chichester. Watts was chief executive of the Society of Architectural and Associated Technicians from 1983 to 1986, chief executive of the British Institute of Architectural Technicians from 1986 to 1991 and since then has been chief executive of the Construction Industry Council. Outside of his professional work, Watts competed for England and Great Britain's fencing teams, winning a

Commonwealth Fencing Championships The Commonwealth Fencing Championships is a fencing event held in the Commonwealth of Nations. Following the removal of fencing as a core sport within the main Commonwealth Games, the first Commonwealth Fencing Championships were held in 1974 and th ...

team bronze medal in 1990, and captaining the British

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. He later became manager of the British fencing team (1995–2010) and Olympic team manager for fencing (2001–2010). Watts was also made chairman of the National Dance Awards in 2011. In late 2019 he joined the board of trustees of the Spanish Theatre Company and the Cervantes Theatre London, and was appointed chair of the board of trustees in early 2020. Watts was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University College of Estate Management The University of the Built Environment, formerly University College of Estate Management (UCEM) and the College of Estate Management (CEM), is an independent UK-based higher education institution which provides courses by distance learning in r ...

in December 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Graham Clive 1956 births Alumni of the University of Chichester Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects People educated at Bedford Modern School Living people Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts