Steve Ridgway
Year conferred: 2008
Steve Ridgway is Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Britain’s second largest carrier serving the world’s major cities. In the early ‘80s he worked for Cougar Marine in Miami during which time he was the project head and chief pilot on the two Virgin Atlantic Challengers, designing and developing the boats, which culminated in successfully re-capturing the Blue Riband record for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic. In the late 80s he worked closely with Chay Blyth in creating the hugely successful British Steel Challenge and the BT Global Challenge Round the World Race, before joining Virgin Atlantic in 1989. An alumnus of Brookes, Steve was awarded the CBE in the Queen’s 2006 New Year Honours.
