Athan Fox
Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge (St. John’s College)
Age: 45
“Scientist by training; entrepreneur by necessity. Perpetual student. Builder of improbable things. PhD in daydreaming.”
Hometown: Still looking for one…
Family Members: Dr. Rui Zhang (wife, together 24 years and counting); Leon Fox (son, 9); Lily Fox (daughter, 5).
Fun fact about yourself: I decided to do a PhD in Chemistry at age five. This was after I realised that the atoms inside me had once been part of other people, animals, and possibly even dinosaurs. Years later, in high school, I did not have access to a chemistry teacher… luckily, a Nigerian missionary agreed to help me by staying after school to self-learn chemistry with me.
Undergraduate School and Degree:
University of Bradford, UK (B.Sc. First Class Honours in Chemistry, 2002
University of Bradford, UK (M.Phil. in Analytical Chemistry, 2003)
University of Cambridge, UK (Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, 2007)
Where are you currently working? Where? Mostly on planes, occasionally in the right time zone… but that’s not what you’re asking, is it? I’m an entrepreneur/founder, currently dividing my time between a battery upcycling company I founded and a publicly listed company that licensed a technology I worked on.
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: Founder and CEO of Ever Resource, a cleantech company upcycling battery materials. In 2024, we won the UK (overall) “Global Start-Up of the Year” and East Anglia “Cleantech Start-Up of the Year” awards. In 2026, I unexpectedly found myself co-hosting a technology documentary in China on robotics and advanced manufacturing — my first (and unplanned) step into mainstream television. I have since been drawn into other television projects, most of which will probably never air…
Outside of work, I crave natural spaces – give me a forest, or miles of white sand, and let the wind carry me away.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? During the EMBA, I was drawn to macroeconomics and biodiversity. The idea that our economy sits within nature (not the other way around) stayed with me. That curiosity led to my Individual Project, the “Life Map”, where I developed a spatial model to highlight where human demand on nature exceeds what ecosystems can sustainably provide.
I’m proud of this project because it pushed me far beyond my training in chemistry, and taught me that the atoms and molecules I studied for years underpin the natural systems our economy depends on. I’m especially proud that this work led me to host Queen Diambi Kabatusuila of the Bakwa Luntu people (Democratic Republic of Congo) at Cambridge Judge Business School for a fireside chat on biodiversity and natural capital.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m proud that an idea we started with many years ago is still alive and evolving. My co-founder and I kept the company going through very difficult times – including during COVID, when we were forced to use personal savings, credit cards, and even remortgage our homes. Building new technologies is never a straight line; I’m proud we are still here, against all odds. And if we fail tomorrow, I will still be proud that we tried to build something that matters.
I’m so proud of the team! Huge shoutout to Marcel Yiao, Rumen Tomov, Marie Georghiou, Peter Knight, Miles Freeman, Neil Smith, Professor Vasant Kumar and Professor Jason Robinson. Where would I be without you?
Who was your favorite MBA professor? Sorry but I can’t name just one… they all deserve recognition! If I had to pick just a few: Khalid Soufani for supervising my project and encouraging me to go above and beyond; Kamiar Mohaddes for infecting me with the macroeconomics bug; and Monique Boddington and Chris Coleridge for amazing sessions on entrepreneurship.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I studied science at Cambridge, and my work today remains closely connected to the University (particularly through the Materials Science department). The EMBA felt like a natural way to embed myself more deeply in the Cambridge ecosystem while expanding my thinking beyond science into economics, strategy, and leadership. In fact, this was the only programme I applied for – for me, it was as much about Cambridge as it was about the EMBA.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? One of the biggest lessons for me was the idea that “your world is not my world.” It sounds simple, but it changed how I think about empathy — understanding how others see the same situation through a different set of experiences and assumptions. This shift opened up a new way of navigating difficult conversations.
The book Difficult Conversations by Bruce Patton reinforced this for me: disagreements are rarely about people being irrational; they arise because people interpret reality in different ways. I applied this most directly in my work with my Board during a particularly challenging period for the company. Rather than trying to persuade them that my view was “right”, I made a conscious effort to reframe my thinking through their lens — understanding their concerns, even when I did not fully agree. This allowed me to engage more constructively with concerns I might previously have dismissed, and ultimately helped us move forward with greater alignment and trust.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? I have two children, ages nine and five. During the EMBA, I realised I may actually have four — the other two being my startup and the various projects orbiting around it. So how was I able to “juggle” it all? Like a kite in a storm, to be frank.
Residential weekends in Cambridge kept me busy and engaged from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Refreshing, compared to refereeing sibling disputes. The honest answer is that I didn’t “balance” anything, I simply took life one day at a time and made sure that something moved forward each day. My wife carried more than a fair share during this period; none of this would have been possible without her.
I illustrate by way of example!
I’m in class, phone on silent — except for two numbers that can override it: my wife and my children’s school. The phone rings; of course it’s the school. One of my children needs to go home. I step out of the class and try to calm them over the phone, while frantically calling my wife to see if she can leave work to pick them up. As I walk back in to the class, messages begin to arrive. For a brief, very brief moment, I think it’s my wife confirming she’s got it covered. I should have known better; it was a flawlessly timed work group chat, informing me that salaries are delayed (which means I must address the UK team immediately). By the end of the day, shell-shocked, I do a quick office-espresso detour – only to find that the coffee machine is busted. And the detour was anything but quick – for on the drive home, I’m rewarded with a flat tyre.
I wish I could say that this was all unusual and unexpected.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Get on with it.
There is never a perfect moment to start your EMBA. If you’re waiting for your CV to improve, your schedule to clear, or life to become less chaotic, you may be waiting forever. Every moment is simultaneously the right time and the wrong time. Whether you’re getting married, divorced, expecting a baby, getting hired, or getting fired, just get on with it. And it’s never too late, no matter your age.
What was your biggest regret in business school? Not realising sooner that knowing when to stop is the real KPI.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? AI was integrated through electives like Organising in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and The Rise of FinTech, where students explored the organisational implications of AI and its role in data. Although I did not choose these electives, I have come to appreciate that AI is changing the architecture of decision-making – with far-reaching societal consequences.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? I chose the Executive MBA over online alternatives because I wanted to be in the room. The in-person format creates a level of energy and engagement that’s difficult to replicate. Just as importantly, the Executive cohort brings together people with significant experience – so much of the learning comes from these students; their experience is gold.
How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? We self-funded the EMBA. In reality, my wife was effectively my main sponsor. It required a number of personal and financial sacrifices, but it was a deliberate investment – and a strong motivation to do well!
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I’m itching to start more businesses and to build more improbable things! My long-term goal is to continue building technologies and systems that make industrial processes cleaner, more efficient, and regenerative. I’m aiming for order-of-magnitude reductions in emissions, energy use, and waste!
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