the wellington college year book 2010/2011
103
beyond
wellington
The Foreign & Commonwealth OYce
r o b e r t c h at t e r to n - d i c k s o n
hg 1975–1980
HM Consul General, British Consulate-General, Chicago
was at College in the late
1970s and have happy memories of spartan rooms, long
runs and excellent teaching.
After Cambridge I did what
everyone in my generation was doing and
headed for the City, where I spent six years
as an analyst and fund manager with Morgan
Grenfell before that august but troubled institution was swallowed by Deutsche Bank. I
enjoyed the City, but became convinced quite
quickly that there was more to life than trying
to buy low and sell high. So when, after taking
the exam a second time, I was offered a place
in the fco I jumped at the opportunity.
In the subsequent twenty-one years I have
done a dozen different jobs, each one quite
different. In London I have worked on nuclear weapons, un peacekeeping, arms exports, nato, Iraq and as head of the Counter
Terrorism Policy Department. Overseas, I
have served in Manila, Washington and as
Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia,
where I worked with a strong British team and
international colleagues to move a fragile Balkan
state closer to the European mainstream.
Now, as Consul General in Chicago, I lead a
team representing and promoting Britain and
British commercial and economic interests
across 13 states of the us Midwest?—?an
I