The Dumfries-born designer behind some of the world’s most iconic cars has been awarded an honorary degree by Edinburgh Napier University.
Entrepreneur Moray Callum is hailed as one of the auto industry’s most influential design leaders after contributing to and leading teams at the likes of Aston Martin, Chrysler, Peugeot, Ghia and Mazda.
He was presented with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Design by the University’s chancellor Will Whitehorn, at the graduation ceremony in the Usher Hall, in recognition of a 38-year product development career in the industry.
A delighted Moray said: “It is a real privilege to be awarded this degree. I feel very grateful for it.
“It feels particularly fitting as it was here where I decided what I wanted to do with my life.
“Edinburgh Napier was the starting point – the people here helped me realise where I wanted to go with my
career.
“I would like to thank those who have helped me along the way.”
After being raised and educated in Dumfries, Moray studied industrial design at ENU’s forerunner, Napier Technical College, before embarking on a successful career in motoring spanning nearly four decades, which took him to France, Italy, Japan and the USA.
It was at the US giant Ford where he spent most of his career becoming the first non-American to hold the title of vice president for design at the US motoring giant – a post he held for seven years until his retirement in May last year.
Among the highlights of Moray’s career in the automotive industry were the 2016 launch of the Ford GT, the successor to the 1960’s classic GT40 and the re-introduction of the Ford Mustang the previous year.
He also helped create and introduce the 2021 F-150 Mustang Mach-E – an all-electric reimagining of the famous supercar marque.
Other best-selling models he worked on include the Ford Transit and the F-series, as well as leading the redesign of the Mazda 5 while working in Japan in the early 2000’s.
Moray is the younger brother of Dumfries-born supercar designer Ian Callum who was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours in 2019.
Ian created several of the Aston Martin and Jaguars featured in the blockbuster 007 films along with some of the world’s top sports cars and was honoured for his services to the British motor industry.
He has created cars including the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace which won 2019 World Car of the Year, World Car Design of the Year and World Green Car. In addition, he designed the F-Type sports car, Aston Martin DB7, DB9 and Vanquish.
His C-X75 never made it into production but did appear in a Bond film.
