Eric Salma

(Elected 2025)

Oration

It is my great pleasure to present Eric Salama to be admitted as a Fellow of Birkbeck, University of London.

Eric Salama is a senior business leader whose career has spanned the worlds of marketing, data and global development. He has built and led some of the most influential organisations in the fields of market research and analytics, while maintaining a lifelong commitment to humanitarian causes and social justice.

Born in London to parents of Egyptian-Jewish heritage, Eric grew up as the son of refugees who found a new home in Britain. Their experience of displacement and resilience profoundly shaped his outlook, instilling in him both gratitude and a determination to ensure that opportunity is open to all. It is a story that has echoed throughout his professional life and his philanthropy.

After studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at the University of Oxford, Eric came to Birkbeck, where he earned his MSc in Economics in 1986. Eric began his professional journey in the UK Labour Party straight out of university, working as a researcher and speechwriter on foreign affairs. In 1986, he joined The Henley Centre, a market research firm, where he rose to become its Chief Executive Officer. When the company was acquired by leading marketing group WPP in 1994, Eric joined the Board as Director of Strategy, helping to shape one of the world’s largest marketing services conglomerates.

In 2003, he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kantar, WPP’s global consumer insight and data division. Over the next seventeen years, he transformed the company into one of the world’s leading providers of market and social research - an organisation of 30,000 employees generating more than $4 billion in revenue. His leadership combined commercial acumen with a belief that data, when used responsibly, can drive better understanding and better decisions, not only in business, but in society.

Today, Eric serves as Chair of Verian Group, a global research, evidence, evaluation and communications agency that works with governments around the world. He is also a Board Advisor to Phoenix Court Group, one of the UK’s leading venture capital firms supporting the next generation of innovation-driven businesses.

Alongside his corporate leadership, Eric has devoted much of his energy to charitable, development and humanitarian work. He has served as Chair of Comic Relief from 2020 to 2023, as a Non-Executive Director of the UK Department for International Development between 2013 and 2017, and for six years was a Trustee of the British Museum. He is currently Chair of The Multibank, a pioneering poverty reduction initiative founded by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which redistributes surplus goods from corporations to families in need, restoring dignity and reducing waste in equal measure.

Eric’s work reflects a consistent belief in evidence-based change: that rigorous analysis, creative thinking and human empathy together can solve complex problems and make a tangible difference.

That same conviction underpins his long and generous relationship with Birkbeck. He served as a Governor of the College from 2016 to 2020, offering insight and guidance on Birkbeck’s strategic direction. He has also been a major philanthropic supporter of our widening access initiatives, most notably the Compass Project, which provides education opportunities for refugees and forced migrants, a cause deeply rooted in his own family history. In addition, he has supported the work of a PhD student in the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, ensuring that Birkbeck remains a centre of rigorous and humane scholarship.

Eric’s life and work exemplify the power of education to inform action - to turn understanding into empathy and empathy into impact. His story connects local roots with global reach, business achievement with social conscience and intellect with integrity.

His sons Raphael and Samuel join us today to celebrate this occasion.

Vice-Chancellor, it is with great pride that I present Eric Salama, distinguished business leader, humanitarian and loyal friend of this College, to be admitted as a Fellow of Birkbeck, University of London.