The memorial lecture, which takes place annually, was led by distinguished guest speaker Sherry Madera in memory of the late Professor Orla Gough and took place in the Orla Gough Lecture Theatre at Westminster’s Marylebone Campus on 30 November.
The event was co-organised by the University’s Development Team and Westminster Business School as part of the annual Orla Gough memorial lecture series. Professor Orla Gough was former Head of Department of Accounting, Finance and Government at Westminster Business School.
Students from the FinTech with Business Analytics MSc had the opportunity to attend to lecture, and engaged enthusiastically with great interest on the subject. The students also felt inspired to think about how they could apply what they had learned to the projects they are working on as part of their degree.
Sherry Madera, who is the Chair of the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance as well as Chief Industry and Government Affairs Officer at Refinitiv, was invited to lead a thought-provoking lecture, where she discussed fintech and sustainability. Prior to her role at Refinitiv, Sherry worked for the City of London Corporation as economic ambassador to Asia and special advisor working closely with industry and government on financial services topics including sustainability/green finance, fintech, currency internationalization and regulation.
In her lecture, Sherry spoke about how fintech and sustainable finance are two megatrends dominating the financial services industry, and how they are also increasingly intersecting and the area of green fintech as a growing field spawning innovation around the globe.
Sherry also spoke about how climate change is an urgent and enormous global challenge that will not be met through existing technology alone. She noted that underlying the success of green fintech is data which needs to be comprehensive, comparable, and coherent. Moreover, she highlighted that data needs to be material and transparent across borders and standards. Factoring in the regulator’s role in disclosures and forward-looking data makes this seemingly simple task complex. While we seek harmonisation of rules and regulations, Sherry said that data can play a role in building quality, density, and granularity to support investors needs for today and tomorrow.
To celebrate Orla’s legacy, the University also commissioned a portrait of Orla to be hung in The Orla Gough Lecture Theatre. The portrait was painted by Hannah Gillingham, who graduated from the Illustration and Visual Communication BA Honours course in 2019. Hannah was selected from a pool of alumni by Orla’s family and during creative process discovered an interesting connection between her and the family. She unveiled her piece at a private ceremony with close friends and family before the main lecture.
Talking about her piece, Hannah explained: “It has been a great honour to be trusted with the portrait of Orla Gough and to be chosen by the family to complete this oil painting. It has been a real pleasure working with the family and getting to know them, as well as learn more about Orla. I would like to say a huge thank you to James, Harriet, and Eliot. My work was originally recommended in the beginning by my tutor Haydn Cottam, who taught me during my time at Westminster university in Harrow. It was Haydn whom Orla personally commissioned to paint a portrait of James and his two children back in 1995, when Haydn first started at Westminster.”
Speaking about the event, Professor Malcolm Kirkup, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of Westminster Business School, said: “Orla Gough was a much respected and much-loved Professor and Head of Department in Finance and Accounting at Westminster for many years, and her memory is honoured annually with a Guest Lecture in the Orla Gough Lecture Theatre at Marylebone. Orla Gough was responsible for a vast expansion of courses, student enrolment numbers and strong partnerships with several organisations and companies. Gough published more than 100 papers with focus on occupational pension schemes’ liabilities and benefit structures and was appointed by the Pensions and Financial Services at Westminster in 2009.”
On the event Jordan Scammell, Head of Development and Fundraising at the University of Westminster, said: “We were so sorry to miss last year’s annual lecture due to COVID, but this year’s event certainly made up for that. It was touching to mark our return with such a special portrait unveiling with Orla’s friends and family, and to also stream to a global audience through the hybrid-lecture theatre. The students’ energy was fantastic, and you could see the cogs turning following Sherry’s lecture. Thank you to Sherry and to Orla’s family for all they continue to do to support our students at Westminster.”
Watch the lecture on Panopto.
Learn more about Business and Management courses at the University of Westminster.
