Sir Nicholas Vernon Scheele KCMG (3 January 1944 – 18 July 2014) was an English business executive who served as president, from 2001–05, and Chief Operating Officer (COO), from 2001–04, of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, and also as

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

from March 2002 to July 2008. Prior to being Chief Operating Officer for Ford, Scheele was responsible for European operations and has also been Chief Executive of

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

, then a Ford subsidiary.

Biography

Born in

Brentwood, Essex Brentwood is a town in Essex, England, in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt 20 miles (30 km) north-east of Charing Cross and close to the M25 motorway. The population of the built-up area was 55,340 in 2021. Brentwood is a t ...

, the elder son of Werner J. Scheele and his wife, Norah E. Scheele (née Gough) He was educated at Brentwood School and went on to study at St Cuthbert's, Durham University. After graduation, he joined the Ford Motor Company.Nick Scheele obituary
autonews.com, 18 July 2014; retrieved 29 July 2014. Scheele was fluent in German, French and Spanish, which served him well when he became the chairman of Ford of Europe.
telegraph.co.uk; retrieved 19 July 2014 An advocate of private funding for universities and strong links to business, in an interview for the BBC, he said: "I think in the future, education and industry need to become even more closely linked than they have been historically. As government funding changes, the replacement could well come through private funding from companies, individuals and grant-giving agencies." Scheele was also chairman of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

Business and Environment Committee, and chaired the manufacturing group of Foresight 2020. Foresight is a UK government programme which aims to identify the UK's future needs and to build bridges between industry, science and government. Scheele became a Non-Executive Director of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

(BAT) in February 2005.

Honours

Scheele was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG) in 2001 for services to British exports.

Death

He died at the age of 70 on 18 July 2014.Obituary for Sir Nicholas Scheele
freep.com, 18 July 2014; accessed 29 July 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheele, Nick 1944 births 2014 deaths Ford executives Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham British manufacturing chief executives Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Chancellors of the University of Warwick Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Brentwood School, Essex English people of German descent English people of Irish descent English chief executives British corporate directors People from Brentwood, Essex Place of death missing British chief operating officers 20th-century English businesspeople British businesspeople in transport English manufacturing businesspeople Jaguar people