Chair Adam Thompson MP» Labour MP for Erewash Officers Stephen Gethins MP» SNP MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry Abtisam Mohamed MP» Labour MP for Sheffield Central Andrew Snowden MP» Conservative MP for Fylde University Council Members Professor Frances Corner OBE» Professor Frances Corner OBE is the first woman to lead Goldsmiths and is the 13th Warden since the College was founded as the Goldsmiths’ Company’s Technical and Recreative Institute in 1891. Professor Corner has more than 20 years’ experience in higher education leadership. Before joining Goldsmiths, she was Head of the London College of Fashion and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Arts London. Previously she was Head of the Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media and Design at London Metropolitan University (2001-2005), and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Gloucestershire (1998-2001). Frances is a board member for the University of London and London Higher and Chair of the AccessHE Steering Group. She is Executive Chair of the London Higher Sustainability Network and a member of the Universities UK Task and Finish Group exploring how UK universities can address climate change. Professor Chris Day CBE» Professor Chris Day has been Vice-Chancellor and President of Newcastle University since January 2017. Previously a Consultant Hepatologist with an international reputation in medical research, he is a Fellow and former Clinical Vice-President of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He has served on the Council of the Medical Research Council and the Executive of the Medical Schools Council and chaired the Clinical Medicine Sub-Panel for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) Exercise. For REF 2021, he chaired of the Institutional Environment Pilot Panel, for the assessment of the research environment at institution level. Professor Day is currently Vice-Chair of the Russell Group, a member of the Council of the All-Party Parliamentary University Group and serves on the Advisory Board of the UPP Foundation. He is a former Chair of the Board of the Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR) and of the N8 Group of research universities. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear. Professor Stephen Decent» Professor Steve Decent joined Glasgow Caledonian University as Principal and Vice-Chancellor in January 2023. Professor Decent brings substantial senior leadership experience and a strong affinity with the University’s values to the role. He joined Glasgow Caledonian from his position of Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he led on strategic planning, academic delivery, and regional and business engagement, with a proven track record in widening access and growth of degree apprenticeships. Formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and later Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Development) at Lancaster University, and Vice-Principal and Head of College of the College of Art, Science and Engineering at the University of Dundee, Professor Decent chairs the UUK-Jisc national strategy group that governs negotiations with publishers on behalf of the UK’s Higher Education sector. Professor Jenny Higham» Professor Jenny Higham joined St George’s as Principal in November 2015 and is now the Vice-Chancellor. She is responsible for directing all activities and developments at the university. Professor Higham led the creation of St George’s Strategic Vision 2030, which identifies the values and strengths that make St George’s a distinctive community and sets out how we will sustain our excellence and impact in education and research. She was the first female Chair of the Medical Schools Council, the representative body for UK medical schools. She has been actively involved in academic policy and delivery for a number of years, both in the UK and internationally. Alongside her role as Vice-Chancellor, Professor Higham continues clinical practice as a consultant gynaecologist which influenced her research interests in reproductive medicine and medical education innovation. Professor G Q Max Lu» Professor Max Lu has been President and Vice-Chancellor of University of Surrey since April 2016. His responsibility is to lead the University, shaping its vision, mission and strategy. Previously he was Provost and Senior Vice-President at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, and serves as Director of the Board of National Physical Laboratory, and as a member of the Leadership Council of the National Centre for Universities and Business. He had previously served as Director of the UK Research and Innovation, and Universities UK. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey and Patron for Charities such as Transform and Surrey Youth Focus. Professor Lu lectured at Nanyang Technological University from 1991 to 1994, and held academic and leadership positions at the University of Queensland from 1994 to 2016. He founded the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials and served as its inaugural director for eight years. He was awarded the Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship in 2003 and 2008. Professor Kathryn Mitchell CBE» Professor Kathryn Mitchell CBE joined the University of Derby as Vice-Chancellor on 1 September 2015. Her academic background is in Psychology and she continues to play an active role in research. Before coming Derby, Professor Mitchell was Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of West London. She had special responsibility for academic provision and quality. Professor Mitchell was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic and Student Support Services and Dean of Students. Professor Mitchell was a Wellcome Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, for over seven years and studied at the Universities of York and London. She has worked at the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Institute in New York and the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel. Professor Trevor McMillan OBE» Professor Trevor McMillan OBE became Vice-Chancellor of Keele University in August 2015. Before moving to Keele as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost in January 2014, Professor McMillan was Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research at Lancaster University, where he led several major academic developments and was the lead for many partnerships with other universities and external organisations in the UK and abroad. Prior to his role of PVC at Lancaster Professor McMillan was Dean of the Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences and Head of the Department of Biological Sciences. Currently, he has a national role as Knowledge Exchange Champion for Research England. As part of this Professor McMillan has recently published a report on technology transfer from universities, the recommendations of which have been supported by the government, in part through inclusion in the Industrial Strategy. He is also leading the development of the Knowledge Exchange Concordat with UUK/GuildHE and Research England. Professor Judith Petts CBE» Professor Judith Petts CBE took up her appointment as Vice-Chancellor of Plymouth University in February 2016. After graduating with a BA (Hons) Geography from Exeter University in 1975, Professor Judith Petts, CBE, went out into the commercial world, including international banking (Barclays International) and a retail planning consultancy company, returning to research posts at Nottingham University and then Loughborough University from 1980. She completed her PhD by publications (Loughborough University) in 1996: "Risk Management at the Local Authority Level: Managing the Technical Institutional-Public Interface". She was a lecturer/senior lecturer in Centre for Hazard and Risk Management, Loughborough from 1987, becoming Centre Director in 1997. In 1999, Professor Petts was appointed to the Chair in Environmental Risk Management at University of Birmingham and became Head of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences in 2001/2. In 2007 she was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor, taking the Research and Knowledge Transfer portfolio. In 2010 Judith moved to the University of Southampton to become the inaugural Dean of the new Faculty of Social and Human Sciences and then in January 2014 was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise. Professor Wendy Thomson CBE» Professor Wendy Thomson CBE was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of London in 2019 following a distinguished career in government and higher education. In 2005, Professor Thomson was given a tenured Professorship in Social Policy at McGill University, Montreal when she was appointed Director of the School of Social Work and founding member of the centre for research on Children and Families. Alongside her role at McGill, she was appointed to lead Commissions for the governments of Ontario (Commission on Child Welfare) and Quebec (Patient-based financing of health care). In 2014, Professor Thomson returned to the UK to serve as Chief Executive of Norfolk County Council, a role she combined with leadership of Norfolk’s Integrated health system and development of a Combined Authority for East Anglia. As chair of the London Anchors Institution Network and the London Research and Policy Partnership and member of the London Partnership Board Professor Thomson is committed to the contribution the university can play in enriching life in London. She has served on many public and private Boards of Directors and is currently on the board of London Higher, The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), and the University Advisory Board for Coursera. She also is chair of the Social Market Foundation.
