Chair of Governors steps down after nine years of exceptional leadership
Michael Nicholson, Chair of Governors at Godolphin since September 2012, will retire from the Board of Governors in March 2021. Michael will be succeeded as Chairman by Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope, who has been a Governor at the School since 2018.
Michael Nicholson said “I was appointed Chair of the Board of Governors of Godolphin in 2012. I had planned to stand down after about seven years but then COVID-19 arrived, and I decided to stay to see the worst of it through. Hopefully that time has now arrived and, after almost nine years in post, I shall hand over to my successor at the end of March.
As Chair I have had the privilege of working with an enthusiastic and dedicated body of governors with wide ranging expertise, able to fill the innumerable gaps in my own knowledge. I am profoundly grateful to all of them, past and present. Godolphin is a wonderful School, and I shall continue to follow its progress as a bystander but with great interest.
My successor, Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope KCB CBE, who had a daughter at Godolphin, may well be known to many of you. I do not think the School’s governing board could be left in better hands and I hope he will find the task of Chair as rewarding and interesting as I have.”
Head of Godolphin, Emma Hattersley said: “On behalf of the whole School community, I would like to record our thanks to Michael Nicholson for nine years of devoted service to Godolphin. We will miss Michael’s wisdom, positive energy and unwavering support of the School. In due course, we will have the opportunity to express our individual and personal thanks to Michael for his rich contribution to Godolphin. We are delighted that Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope has agreed to be our next Chair and I look forward to working with him in the future.”
Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope said: “It is an honour, a privilege and a challenge to take over the baton of Chair of Governors from Michael Nicholson. Michael’s association with Godolphin goes back several decades. His unwavering and self-less commitment has been the stuff of legend and the School and the Governors are hugely in his debt. He leaves enormous shoes to fill. I shall do my best to maintain and build on his superb legacy.”
Michael Nicholson, Chair of Governors at Godolphin since September 2012, will retire from the Board of Governors in March 2021. Michael will be succeeded as Chairman by Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope, who has been a Governor at the School since 2018.
Michael Nicholson said “I was appointed Chair of the Board of Governors of Godolphin in 2012. I had planned to stand down after about seven years but then COVID-19 arrived, and I decided to stay to see the worst of it through. Hopefully that time has now arrived and, after almost nine years in post, I shall hand over to my successor at the end of March.
As Chair I have had the privilege of working with an enthusiastic and dedicated body of governors with wide ranging expertise, able to fill the innumerable gaps in my own knowledge. I am profoundly grateful to all of them, past and present. Godolphin is a wonderful School, and I shall continue to follow its progress as a bystander but with great interest.
My successor, Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope KCB CBE, who had a daughter at Godolphin, may well be known to many of you. I do not think the School’s governing board could be left in better hands and I hope he will find the task of Chair as rewarding and interesting as I have.”
Head of Godolphin, Emma Hattersley said: “On behalf of the whole School community, I would like to record our thanks to Michael Nicholson for nine years of devoted service to Godolphin. We will miss Michael’s wisdom, positive energy and unwavering support of the School. In due course, we will have the opportunity to express our individual and personal thanks to Michael for his rich contribution to Godolphin. We are delighted that Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope has agreed to be our next Chair and I look forward to working with him in the future.”
Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope said: “It is an honour, a privilege and a challenge to take over the baton of Chair of Governors from Michael Nicholson. Michael’s association with Godolphin goes back several decades. His unwavering and self-less commitment has been the stuff of legend and the School and the Governors are hugely in his debt. He leaves enormous shoes to fill. I shall do my best to maintain and build on his superb legacy.”