Council

Sue Garden was appointed a Liberal Democrat life peer in 2007. In coalition, she was a Government Whip and Minister in the Lords for departments including DCMS, DfE, BIS (HE and Skills) and MOD.  She now speaks for her party on Higher and Further Education and Skills, is a Deputy Chairman of Committees and member of the Liaison Committee.

She read French and Spanish at St Hilda’s College Oxford.  With her RAF husband (the late Lord Garden) she moved over 20 times, teaching in England and Germany.  She worked for City & Guilds for twenty years, developing and promoting vocational qualifications.

Rupa Huq was elected MP for Ealing Central and Acton at the 2015 general election, and served as a shadow Home Office minister between 2016 and 2017. She is currently a member of the Public Adminsitration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Before entering parliament Rupa spent a year as the Deputy Mayor of Ealing between 2010 and 2011. She has also been a university lectuer at the University of Manchester and Kingston University.

Rupa was gained a BA in social and political sciences from Newnham College, Cambridge, before completing her PhD on youth culture at the University of East London in 1999.

Diana Maddock served as Member of Parliament for Christchurch from 1993—1997. During that time she served on the communities of a number of Parliamentary Bills covering Housing, Finance and Building Societies. She was also spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats on housing, the family and women's issues. Diana has been a life peer since November 1997. She stood down as Housing Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords in 2004. From 1998—2000 Diana Maddock was Federal President of the Liberal Democrat Party. She was a member of Northumberland County Council 2005—08 and of Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council 2007—09.

Debra Humphris joined University of Brighton in December 2015 from Imperial College in London, where she held the positions of Pro-Rector (Education) and Vice-Provost (Education) between 2012 and 2015. In three years she effected real change in the college’s position on teaching and learning, having developed and implemented the college’s first education and student strategy – with extensive consultation and involvement from staff, students, the Students’ Union and alumni.

Originally qualifying as a Registered Nurse, Debra spent 20 years in the NHS including Senior Research Fellow at the South Thames Regional Health Authority, and at St George’s Hospital Medical School. She achieved her PhD in 1999, which considered the implementation of policy into clinical practice.

Professor Paddy Nixon joined Ulster University as Vice Chancellor and President in July 2015, from the University of Tasmania where he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor. He has extensive industry and commercial experience, particularly in collaborations with global high tech firms.

Paddy was previously Science Foundation Ireland Research Professor in Distributed Systems at University College Dublin (UCD), where he was Vice Principal (Deputy Dean) of the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

From 2007 – 2010 he was Academic Director of INTEL's Independent Living and Digital Health, leading a team of 150 clinicians, researchers and engineers.

Paddy holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Computer Science, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering.

Professor Louise Richardson is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. She previously served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews.

A political scientist by training, Professor Richardson received a BA in History from Trinity College, Dublin, an MA in Political Science from UCLA, and an MA and PhD in Government from Harvard University. Professor Richardson’s research specialises in international security with a particular emphasis on terrorist movements.

Her work has been widely recognised through the awarding, amongst others, of prizes such as the Sumner Prize for work towards the prevention of war and the establishment of universal peace. She also holds a number of honorary doctorates.

Professor Richardson serves on several not-for profit boards including the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Booker Prize Foundation.

Professor Mark E. Smith has been Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University since January 2012, having previously been Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Warwick University. He has also worked in Germany and Australia. He is the current Chair of the Graduate Prospects and HECSU boards, as well as being a member of the HESA Board, the UniversitiesUK Research Policy, Funding Policy and Long Term Strategy Network groups and in June 2015 became Chair of the Financial Sustainability Strategy Group for Higher Education.

Mark chaired the national review of A-level content 2013-14, is a member of the Strategic Advisory Network for the EPSRC, Trustee of the AQA Council, board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and member of the UCEA Board, UPP Foundation Advisory Board, and HEFCE’s Leadership, Governance and Management Committee. He has recently been appointed as a Council member of the All-Party Parliamentary University Group. In December 2014 Mark became a Trustee and Board Member of Jisc. Regionally in the North West of England, Mark is a member of the LEP Board for Lancashire and also serves on the North West Regional Leaders Board.