Helen Stone

Helen Elizabeth Stone was born in February 1950.^[3]

She attended the North London Collegiate School^[4] and was inspired to become a civil engineer through, in her own words, "a trip up the newly-opened M1 motorway when I was 10."^[5] She studied civil engineering at the University of Birmingham, obtained chartered status,^[4] and has worked on engineering projects including the Channel Tunnel, motorways, a theme park, a shopping centre, aircraft hangar and oil refinery.^[4][5]

In 1991 Stone became only the third woman to become a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers^[6] and in 2002 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.^[7] She is known for representing British engineering overseas,^[4] and has a particular interest in representing the interests of women in engineering. In an interview conducted by the Daily Telegraph,^[1] she shared her experience and asserted that in a wide range of countries, women were not being promoted to senior positions in engineering to the same extent as men. She chaired the Diversity Panel of the Construction Industry Council,^[5] where she worked with professional bodies, research organisations, and specialist business associations in the UK construction industry. However, despite saying that "I am conscious that I have a responsibility to break down inappropriate barriers which prevent women engineers from making progress,"^[2] she is not in favour of positive discrimination, believing that it could lead to a lowering of standards.^[2]

She served for nine years as a governor at Cheltenham Ladies' College, and was later chair of governors at the North London Collegiate School for 10 years.^[8]

She chaired the Ethics and Standards Board of the APM Group, an accreditation group.^[9]

She has been a director of several organisations including the London Hostels Association^[3] and the North London Collegiate School.^[3]