Katherine Smart, global technical director and chief scientist at Diageo, has been elected as Master of the Brewers’ Company for the coming year.
Katherine, who is the first woman to be elected Master, graduated from the University of Nottingham in 1987, where she read biological sciences.
She has a PhD in brewing science from the Council of National Academic Awards (1991), a DSc in brewing and distilling from the University of Nottingham (2016), and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Nottingham (2017). She also holds a diploma in distilling from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (2016) and has completed courses in sustainability from the Universities of Cambridge (2015) and Oxford (2023).
She has held academic positions at the Universities of Oxford Brookes, Nottingham, and currently at Cambridge.
In the business world, she held corporate vice-president positions at SABMiller and AB InBev, where she was global chief brewer.
She founded the National Brewing Library at Oxford Brookes University (2001), the Brewing Science and Bioenergy Centre at the University of Nottingham (2005), and a family distillery with her husband (2017).
She was the second woman to hold the role of president of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (2016-2018) and is the current president elect of the American Society of Brewing Chemists.
She is a Rectifier of the Gin Guild, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers and has held board positions with the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the Scottish Whisky Research Institute. She is a member of the EBC Brewing Science Group.
Also elected at the meeting were:
- Upper warden: Fergus McMullen, production and sales director of McMullen & Sons;
- Middle warden: Stephen Gould, managing director of Everards Brewery; and
- Renter warden: Torquil Sligo-Young, non-executive director of Young’s.
The new Master and Wardens were welcomed by the court and by members of the livery at a luncheon after the meeting. The opportunity was also taken to thank James Staughton for his service as Master over the last year.
