George W. Buckley

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Sir George William Buckley (born 23 February 1947) is a British businessman. He was the chairman, president, and chief executive of 3M, named to these roles on 7 December 2005. He now chairs several companies: Ownership Capital B.V., Arle Capital LLP, Smiths Group plc, and Expro International.

Buckley was born in Sheffield and grew up with his disabled grandmother in Pitsmoor. He started as an apprentice electrician and earned a BSc in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Huddersfield. He also has a PhD in engineering studied jointly at Huddersfield and the University of Southampton, and an honorary DSc in engineering from Huddersfield.

In 2009 Buckley told 3M shareholders about how he handled the economy, saying layoffs would be “as many as necessary but as few as possible.” 3M used furloughs, pay cuts, overtime bans, and strict cost control to limit layoffs, and he noted that even in a 5% recession there is still 95% of business left to win.

As CEO of 3M, Buckley earned multi‑million dollar totals in 2008 and 2009. He was knighted in 2011 for services to industry. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2018. In October 2020, he became the Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield.