Former Chief Executive, The Royal Academy of Engineering

Policy Leaders Fellow Alumna, Centre for Science and Policy

Dame Hayaatun Sillem DBE PhD worked for the Royal Academy of Engineering from 2006 until the end of 2025. She became CEO in 2017. She previously served as Committee Specialist and later Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee.

Hayaatun has extensive leadership experience in UK and international engineering and innovation policy and programmes. She is also a trustee of the London Transport Museum and Semta, and a trustee and judge for the St Andrew’s Prize for the Environment.

Hayaatun has a Masters in Biochemistry (MBiochem) from the University of Oxford and a PhD in signal transduction from University College London. She is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.