Dr Wei Yang appointed as first female CIC chair

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has appointed Dr Wei Yang as its first female chair.

Yang's appointment provides CIC with its first female chair, in addition to being the first chair born outside the UK and Ireland. They replace Justin Sullivan in the role for a two-year term of office. 

Sullivan will remain on the CIC board as immediate past chair for one year, in accordance with CIC's rules and byelaws.

Yang, a town planner and urban designer, has experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams and implementing large-scale regeneration and low carbon master planning projects in Britain and internationally. 

On taking up her new role, Yang said: "I am delighted to have become the first female chair of CIC – a forum for built environment professionals to share our best practices without professional boundaries.

"Our living environment has a direct influence on our daily activities, health, and wellbeing. The responsibility of our sector is not just building physical objects; we are here to create places embodied with empathy, inclusivity, and creativity.

"Throughout my role at CIC, I will dedicate my efforts to strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations between built and natural environment professionals to stimulate mindset changes within the sector for a better future."

Outgoing chair Justin Sullivan said: "We collectively at the CIC have made great progress to meet the challenges around building safety and our climate change action plan for professional institutions has moved forward the debate around how to achieve net zero and protect biodiversity.

"Wei's thought leadership and powerful advocacy for climate action, nature-based solutions, health and well-being and social equality ideally suit her for the incredibly challenging and exciting time ahead."