Millard Arnold joined the Murray & Roberts leadership team as commercial director in March, bringing with him a wealth of personal and professional experience.

Deceptively soft-spoken, Millard Arnold is a seething boiler room of energy. Restless by nature, he admits to a butterfly stomach that drives him to continually challenge himself.

"The negative side of a restless nature is a sense of insecurity," he says. "I feel I have to challenge and prove myself. I have lots of energy and interest. I'm innately curious about almost everything. Life is such an extraordinary thing – you can experience it to the fullest or let it pass you by."
 

African-American, and a lawyer by training, Millard has certainly chosen to experience life to the fullest – and he has gained a wealth of experience in the process.

“Life is such an extraordinary thing”

As an actor, he appeared in the movie Ali alongside Will Smith. He has published several books, including two on Steve Biko and a book of poems. He has had public exhibitions of his photographs and paintings, while his career has included work as a sports reporter for the Washington Post and a professor of law, lecturing on jurisprudence and international business transactions at Georgetown University and Touro Law School.

Appointed to an ambassadorial-rank diplomatic post in South Africa, with responsibility for US commercial direction and policy for Africa, especially southern Africa, he used his time in Africa productively. He established the first indigenous Chamber of Commerce in Mozambique, set up the Nigeria/US Business Council and was later policy adviser to the Botswana government on private sector development.

Why has the multi-skilled Millard ended up in South Africa, and particularly Murray & Roberts?

"I think South Africa is probably one of the world's best kept secrets in terms of opportunity and potential. There is an extraordinary confluence of cultures, ideas and philosophies virtually unparalleled anywhere in the world," says Millard. "The quality of leadership in the public and private sectors is as good, if not better, than any in the world right now.

"In spite of all of the things I have accomplished, I still see coming to Murray & Roberts as an exciting and scary challenge. I've got that familiar rush of adrenalin that tells me I am still alive," he says.