Jeffrey AronsonNick Rogers
Nick’s passion for Land Rovers started during his childhood, in Oxford, UK – where he grew up on a dairy farm and learned to drive in the family’s Series II sitting on a bag of straw to see over the steering wheel as he navigated around the yard and fields.
Starting early at age 16, Nick initially began working as a body engineering technician apprentice for Rover Group and quickly specialized in whole vehicle layout, crash safety, and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) computer simulation and testing. As such, it was great to work on Rover cars, and the Land Rover Freelander CB40 and Discovery II in the early years.
During his career, Nick experienced the many changes in the UK automotive industry, from Rover to Honda, living in Munich with BMW, Ford and of course Tata. He was especially proud to ultimately lead the engineering and delivery of the T5 platform, which included the reincarnation of Discovery into Discovery 3, as well as the first Range Rover Sport, which imbued the brand with new off-road and on-road sporting capability. After launching these vehicles, Nick went on to run manufacturing to launch the ’07 MY Puma Diesel upgrade to the Defender, in addition to leading the ’06 and ’07 model year major vehicle and driveline launches at Solihull.
Next, Nick enjoyed the exciting role of heading up the business strategy and engineering delivery of the new D7u platform from a blank sheet of paper to the L405 Range Rover and L494 Range Rover Sport. He’s justifiably proud of the global success of these vehicles and the regrowth they brought to the Land Rover business.
Most recently, as a Board Member and Executive Director for Product Engineering, Nick was responsible for Jaguar Land Rover’s global engineering operations. During his seven years in this role, Nick was honored to lead a pioneering team to engineer and launch some of the most desirable vehicles in the world. This included achieving his childhood dream of creating a modern interpretation of the iconic Series Land Rover – the L663 Defender – with all new electrical architecture to reset the breadth of its capability. In addition, Nick led the initiative for the fifth generation Range Rover and third generation Range Rover Sport, which he called “unbelievably special projects.”
Nick’s current Land Rovers include “Fern,” a beloved 1948 Series I, and “Poppy,” a Series II that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth II.
Nick Dimbleby
Multi-award-winning photographer Nick Dimbleby has been capturing the spirit of Land Rover since he was 11 years old; the majority of this time he has been fortunate enough to have done so professionally, most often for Jaguar Land Rover.
Nick began working with Land Rover in 1997. He photographed the Camel Trophy for its last four events: 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. During this time, he covered most of the company’s launch events, as well as the G4 Challenge, Land Rover TReK and numerous other company-sponsored trips and expeditions.
During his 30-year career, Nick has photographed every Land Rover model and travelled to 85 counties. He has written seven books, the most recent of which is Camel Trophy – The Definitive History. Other books include Off-Road Driving Techniques, Range Rover – The Complete Story (with James Taylor), Land Rover: A Tough 50 Years (with Chris Bennett), and Land Rover: 65 Years of Adventure.
As well as working for Land Rover, Nick takes photographs for other automotive brands and several non-automotive clients. He is passionate about photography, travel and Land Rover, and is the owner of several Range Rovers and Land Rovers. At the Diamond Jubilee, Nick will speak about his experiences over the past three decades, and offer expedition and photo tips for budding photographers.
Nick resides with his family in Syresham, Northants, UK. You can view Nick’s work at nickdimbleby.com and follow him on Instagram; @nickdimbleby
Kim McCullough
Kim McCullough’s automotive enthusiasm arose early in her life as her father, Edward McNeilly, participated in the landmark VW Beetle advertising campaign led by Doyle Dane Bernbach (recognized by the Advertising Age as “changing the industry forever”).
A genuine auto aficionado, Kim already owned a ’56 Series I when she took her first position at Land Rover (1997–2001), where she helped launch the Discovery II. When Ford moved Jaguar Land Rover’s corporate headquarters to Irvine, CA, Kim remained on the East Coast working with Mazda, Nissan and Toyota (where she helped launch the Lexus). Her second stint with JLR ran from 2011–2020, during which she became the Brand Manager for Land Rover and later Vice President of Marketing for both Land Rover and Jaguar. In that role, Kim oversaw the successful launches of the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Velar, as well as Jaguar’s F-Pace, XE and XF sedans.
In 2015, Automotive News recognized Kim as one of “100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry.” Throughout her 35-year career in the automotive world, she has received multiple awards for the impact and effectiveness of her marketing campaigns.
Kim is currently focused on bringing more women into the automotive industry through her work on the Board of Directors of the TechForce Foundation (www.techforce.org) and as a founding member of Women in Motorsports North America (www.womeninmotorsports.com).
A lifelong auto enthusiast, Kim has judged and participated in concours d’elegance throughout the US, including Pebble Beach and Amelia Island. With her husband Mitch, an auto journalist, she has competed and participated in international events such as the East African Safari Classic, Mille Miglia and London to Brighton. Most recently, Kim competed in her “Pacific Gun Sight Special ”1932 Ford and won a class award at the Grand National Roadster Show at the Flabob Airstrip, Riverside, in The Race of Gentlemen California Drags.
Daphne Greene
Daphne’s association with Land Rover extends over 25 years. In 1995, Daphne became the first and only woman to represent the United States in the Camel Trophy competition, held that year in five Central American nations. In 1996, she served as a support driver, assisting in the first east-west crossing of Borneo.
Daphne managed and developed Land Rover’s off-highway customer and retail programs and product and press launches, as well those of as other manufacturers. She coordinated off-road education and teaching programs nationwide and internationally, focusing on the skills and techniques necessary for safe and responsible off-road driving.
In 2000, these experiences led to Daphne’s appointment by then California Governor Gray Davis as the Chair of its Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Commission for three years. In 2004, then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to the Deputy Directorship of her state’s Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division, the nation’s largest off-highway vehicle program. Daphne’s responsibilities ranged from environmental compliance to law enforcement of the State Vehicular Recreation Areas. Her expertise would be called upon by local, state and national programs; from 2007–2012, Daphne served on the Board of Directors of Tread Lightly, a nonprofit organization that leads a national initiative to promote the responsible use of motorized vehicles when recreating outdoors (https://treadlightly.org/).
Upon completing her position at the State of California, Daphne continued to work with Land Rover, joining the Global Driving Team for new product launches such as the Defender at the 4XFar Festival and the 2022 Range Rover.
Bob Burns
After earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University, Bob joined the start-up team of then Range Rover of North America. He started as a freelancer in the Public Relations Department to assist with the North American Media launch for the newly introduced Land Rover Range Rover; there he was responsible for media information on the company’s off-road driving programs.
Shortly after, Bob became a Product Specialist, determining the technical data that would appear in brochures, press releases, owner manuals and sales trainings. He soon became the Subject Matter Expert on the quickly growing SUV market. Bob studied all the competitive vehicles, working closely with UK sales, marketing and engineering teams to benchmark product content and capability.
Bob’s knowledge and expertise became the basis for sales training on vehicle capabilities and features, the bedrock of Land Rover’s “How To Drive Off-Road” video series and its television and print advertising.
As Training and Development Manager, Bob created and delivered new model training programs for US and Canadian sales and service staff, including venue selection and development for multi-month programs. His responsibilities included the development of the Land Rover Driving Schools (now Land Rover Experience Centers) in Manchester, VT; Asheville, NC; Carmel, CA; and Montbello, QC. Bob developed all of the trail networks, and hired and trained the instructional staff.
Bob played a major role in the design of the retail demonstration courses required of all Land Rover Centres in North America. His unique off-road course builds have graced the New York International Auto Show (under the Hi Line in Manhattan), the San Francisco Auto Show at the Moscone Center, the Los Angeles International Auto Show and the Seattle, Houston and indoors Washington DC Auto Shows. One such course was built for the Invictus Games on Disney property in Orlando to raise awareness about wounded soldiers internationally.
Bob built permanent off-road courses at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA, and the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, for the 2010 FEI Equestrian World Games (still in use today). Temporary off-road demonstration courses were built annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen Raceway, Sonoma Raceway, Mid-Ohio and Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. Bob has built dozens of temporary off-road courses on private ranches and estates, including Malcom Forbes’ Colorado Ranch, and the Ford World Headquarters property in 2002 to celebrate Ford’s 100th anniversary.
Bob has over 20 years of service as a volunteer firefighter. He’s been an avid off-road motorcycle rider/racer from his teenage years and currently still competes as time allows. Growing up in a hands-on construction environment, Bob still operates heavy equipment and personally builds many of designed off-road courses. His engineering education, land surveyor experience, combined with his recreational off-road vehicle experience, provides knowledge and insight into proper land use and development.