Full Name: Graham Conrad Howell
Position: Chairperson of SRK Consulting South Africa
Main Activity of the Company: SRK Consulting is an independent firm of consulting engineers and scientists providing independent technical advice and solutions in natural resource and development solutions
Date and Place of Birth: November 24, 1952, Cape Town
Education: BSc (civil engineering), 1975; MSc (engineering), 1978; PhD (engineering), 1984 – all at the University of Cape Town (UCT), with research topics in systems optimisation, continuum mechanics and numerical methods (finite and boundary elements); PrEng, 1984
First Job: Allocated student with the Cape Provincial Administration’s (CPA’s) Roads Department before embarking on first-year university studies
Career History Prior to Current Position: Student at UCT, 1972 to 1975); postgraduate student and junior lecturer at UCT, 1976 to 1982; design engineer at the CPA’s Roads Department, assistant resident engineer and resident engineer at the Barrydale construction unit of the CPA Roads Department, 1982 to 1985. I joined SRK in Cape Town in 1985 as a senior engineer and was principal engineer and director in Cape Town and Johannesburg until 1998, before serving as director of Synexus from 1999 to mid-2006. I rejoined SRK as principal engineer in May 2006, becoming principal engineer and partner in 2008, director in 2014 and chairperson in 2016
Size of First Pay Packet: R75 a month
First Job with Present Group: Senior civil/geotechnical engineer in the Cape Town office, 1985
Value of Assets under Your Control: People are our assets, and their value is incalculable
Number of People under Your Leadership: 450 in Southern Africa
Management Style: That of the captain of a cricket team – involving specialist members, creating a conducive, enabling environment and developing team spirit
Personal Best Achievement: Completing my PhD thesis, first ‘hole-in-one’ and playing in the 100 years of test cricket celebratory match at Newlands in 1988
Professional Best Achievement: Being elected chairperson of SRK
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My parents
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Dr Hendrik Kirsten, cofounder of SRK, and the partners of SRK
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Elon Musk
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Richard Branson – he is an active visionary
Philosophy of Life: The glass is always half full – positive attitude, even in bad times
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Rejoining SRK in 2006
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Hopefully, it will never come
Hope for the Future: To survive and excel, personally and professionally, in a modern and progressive South Africa
Favourite Reading: Bill Bryson, Jared Diamond
Favourite TV Programmes: Big Bang Theory and Two-and-a-Half Men
Favourite Food/Drink: Stews and potjies/ales and Southern Comfort (currently)
Favourite Music: Dire Straits
Favourite Sport: Cricket and golf
Favourite Website: None
Hobbies: Woodwork – when I have time
Car: Lexus IS250
Pets: ShengLi and ZaiLei – SharPei dogs (my kids)
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Negativity
Favourite Other South African Company: Those that have vision and act accordingly
Favourite Foreign Company: Same as above
Married: To Lynette, since April 1983
Children: Sean, 20
Clubs: Durbanville Golf Club (current); Pinelands and Wanderers Cricket Clubs (previously)