A sense of social justice

At a young age, Jane Royston’s parents instilled in her a deep sense of social justice rooted in the Quaker religion. Royston combined her idealism with solid training and practical experience and now spends much of her time helping others.

Royston has twice been named Swiss Business Woman of the Year and, in 1999, became the first professor of entrepreneurship and innovation in Switzerland, at the Ecole Fédérale Polytechnique in Lausanne.

Royston helps others by sitting on the boards of several small companies chosen because she believes in their products and people. One firm makes chemicals for the water treatment business and is working on a cure for diabetes. Another matches sellers of commodities directly with buyers, squeezing out the middleman.

After studying pure mathematics at the London School of Economics, Royston joined DuPont, eventually becoming the head of IT for DuPont France in Paris. In 1986, Royston went out on her own because of the “mass injustice” she perceived in the corporate world resulting from the relentless pursuit of profits. Royston slowly built up her own company, NatSoft SA, a software engineering company, and ten years later sold it to Cambridge Technology Partners.

The mother of two girls aged 11 and 15, Royston, 47, does not necessarily believe scientists are made rather than born. “People have aptitudes,” she says. The entrepreneurial aptitude is one example. “It’s having great determination and perseverance coupled with the vision of where you’re going. It’s acquired very early if you’re not born with it,” said Royston.

Her advice to aspiring young women scientists: “I think it’s important to think for yourself about what you want to do. Forget what other people are telling you and really decide what you want to do, knowing that you’re allowed to change your mind.”