Will became chairman of the Evelyn Trust in 2011 and retired in November 2021. His interest in medical research comes from being inspired by his medical family, although not a medic himself. Will says: “The Trust offers an opportunity to work with the excellent Evelyn team to support interesting and important projects that have a lasting impact on medical science and ultimately the well-being of patients.”

Nothing can beat the satisfaction of seeing Evelyn projects come to fruition. The trustees smile when they see a new therapy for peanut allergies making a national impact; the Queen open the Rosie Maternity Hospital; hear how individuals have benefited from the work of the Evelyn neurorehabilitation project; or see an advance in the treatment of osteoporosis. These are just some of the dozens of medical projects supported by the Evelyn recently. Many more are in the pipeline. We are committed to continuing to benefit people in Cambridgeshire for many years to come.

Will studied English literature at Trinity College Cambridge then joined the Financial Times as a journalist in 1981. He spent 23 years with the newspaper as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, then Paris and finally Tokyo, returning to the UK in 1998 to become foreign editor, then publishing editor. In 2004, Will became a search consultant.

He is senior partner the UK board practice of Spencer Stuart, based in London. He is a former chairman of the Oxford & Cambridge Rowing Foundation, the charitable organisation which is responsible for the Boat Race; currently a governor of the Perse School and a non-executive director of Downing Strategic Micro-Cap Investment Trust.  Publications include An A to Y of Venturespeak, An Insight into the Art of Journalism and Becoming a Non-Executive Chair.

Will and his wife Jeannie, a fellow Cambridge graduate and an environmental campaigner, live in Cambridge and have four children.