Patrick Mitton is an alumnus of St Edmund’s College, former Chair of the St Edmund’s Alumni Society, and a Fellow-Commoner of the College. He matriculated in 1974 to conduct research for an MSc in Land Economy. Mr Mitton was Captain and cox of the College Boat Club who succeeded in winning their oars in the 1976 May Bumps. The College appointed Mr Mitton as the inaugural Chair of the Alumni Society in 2002, a position he held for 11 years.

Mr Mitton has spent a career in food and agriculture, latterly as manager at Bayer CropScience Ltd in Cambridge. He is currently director of the business he founded, AgriTopics Ltd. a consultancy in crop production methods. He is appointed as an Examination Chair for BASIS, the UK industry certification scheme for professional advisers in agriculture crop protection. Mr Mitton also sits on a number of boards and committees in relation to food and agriculture policy, including Red Tractor Farm & Food Assurance.

He was formally Chair of Governors of St Edmund’s College, Ware, an independent school linked in history to the founding of St Edmund’s in Cambridge in 1896. Mr Mitton was awarded the Papal Knighthood of St Gregory for services to Catholic school education.