Michele Acton joined St Hugh’s College as its new Principal in September 2025. Previously, Michele was Chief Executive for the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) – a post she had held since 2019. Her leadership at the RSM followed 12 years as Chief Executive of Fight for Sight, which she helped transform into a leading national fundraising charity for medical research into eye health. Michele started her career in investment banking.
Michele was educated in Lincolnshire and her native Derbyshire, primarily at state schools. After reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford, she entered the City of London where she worked in the world of high finance, selling businesses across Africa, floating football clubs when they were flavour of the month on the stock market, and orchestrating any number of exciting and interesting deals.
Her first job after leaving the City was chief executive of UCL Hospitals Charitable Foundation, the main fundraising charity for key research, building and equipment projects across all University College London Hospitals. After two years at UCLH she was appointed chief executive of the eye research charity Fight for Sight, where she led the transformation of an organisation that brought two separate charities together to form a national charity focused on addressing sight loss. At the end of her 12 years at the helm, Fight for Sight had an £8 million research commitment to scientists and healthcare professionals at over 40 universities and hospitals.
