IHE 2020 Speakers

Maddalaine is a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.  She began her career as a lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer before joining the civil service on the fast stream.  Her civil service appointments included the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, Home Office, DIUS and BIS, and she has worked on a range of policy areas including higher and further education. Maddalaine then acted as Chief Executive of University Alliance for four years.  Since November 2018, Maddalaine has been Director Education at the British Council.

Paul Clark is the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). He has led the organisation since 2015. Prior to that, he has worked for more than 20 years in the higher education sector, in a range of senior roles, and across a variety of organisations.

Paul has led a number of sector-wide data and policy initiatives, including work on transforming the data landscape for UK higher education, developing an open data strategy for HE, cyber security, improving data skills and capability, and using data toimprove decision-making.

Sarah leads on employability support for Bristol’s international students. She is a member of the AGCAS Internationalisation Task Group, which helps professionals across the UK to develop their expertise in international student career support. Sarah is also a committee member of UKCISA, the national charity for international student affairs, advocating for international students to have the best possible experience during their time in the UK.

Mark is an experienced executive-level data strategist and innovator.

Across 20 years at the forefront of developments in data and higher education, Mark has helped leaders and organisations to use data both to define their strategy and then to achieve it. His expertise spans all aspects of data and analysis, and is characterised by a focus on people, primary capability, and innovation.

Prior to founding dataHE, Mark was Director of Analysis and Research at UCAS. Here he built a highly regarded data science capability delivering novel research, data products, and digital marketing serving changing student, university, public and commercial needs. Previously Mark has worked for HEFCE, OFFA and central Government, and has degrees in spatial statistics and chemistry.

 Rob Cowan is the CEO and Founder of Point Blank Music School, winner of the Best Independent HE category at the WhatUni Student Choice Awards and recipient of TEF Silver recognition for excellence in teaching. Starting his musical journey as a bass player in Sony signed band, Honeychile, Rob then became a music producer at London’s famous Matrix Studios before setting up Point Blank in 1994. Now with schools in London, Los Angeles, China, Mumbai, Ibiza and online, a record label to promote new talent, alongside an international audience of over 1.5 million followers on social media, Rob has overseen the growth of the company into a truly global brand.

Rory’s first foray into international education took place in 2000 when, 18 years old and unqualified, he spent a Summer teaching English in Shanghai. After completing his English Studies degree at Trinity College Dublin further teaching roles followed, in Japan and Ireland, before he moved from the academic department to the ‘dark side’ – international student recruitment. For 8 years he worked for language, business and arts schools, , promoting Irish and UK education to students and their families all over the world before moving into strategic roles. He is now CEO of Central Film School, a specialist HEP registered with the Office for Students and located in Central London

 Mary Curnock Cook is an independent education expert serving in a non-executive capacity on a number of Boards.

From 2010-2017, Mary was Chief Executive of UCAS. Earlier in her career she held executive and non-executive positions in the education, hospitality, food and biotech sectors.

Mary Chairs the governing body of the Dyson Institute, and the Access Project which helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds progress to selective universities.  She is a Council member at the Open University, a non-exec Director at the Student Loans Company, the London Interdisciplinary School and Education Cubed.  She is also a Trustee at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), and at multi-academy trust, United Learning.  She has the role of Network Chair for Emerge Education, the leading edtech investor in Europe.

Mary has an MSc from London Business School and was awarded an OBE in 2000. She is an honorary Fellow of Birkbeck and Goldsmiths and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Gloucestershire.

Nicola Dandridge took up her role as the first chief executive of the Office for Students in September 2017. The Office for Students was fully established in April, 2018 and is the new public body which regulates the higher education sector on behalf of students. The Office for Students aims to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers.

Prior to joining the Office for Students, Nicola was chief executive of Universities UK, the representative organisation for the UK’s universities. Before that she was chief executive of the Equality Challenge Unit, the higher education agency which promotes equality and diversity for staff and students. Nicola started her career as a lawyer working in private practice.

Michelle Donelan was appointed Minister of State for Universities at the Department of Education on 13 February 2020.

She was previously Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) from 29 July 2019 to 13 February 2020. She was also an unpaid Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education covering the maternity leave of Kemi Badenoch MP from 4 September 2019 to 13 February 2020.

Anne Marie joined UKCISA in 2019 from the Association of Commonwealth Universities, where she was Director of Chevening, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s flagship global scholarship scheme.

Prior to that, Anne Marie has led on a range of educational programmes and projects promoting international mobility and intercultural exchange. At Universities UK International, she developed the first government-funded UK Strategy for Outward Mobility, and established the Go International programme to build capacity and influence institutional change in UK universities to increase the proportion of UK-domiciled students with international experience.

Before moving into the education sector, Anne Marie spent several years in the language services industry managing high profile accounts with multinational engineering and pharmaceutical companies.

Anne Marie is a linguist, with a first degree in Modern Languages from Anglia Ruskin University and a postgraduate translation qualification from University of Westminster.

 Julian Gravatt is one of two Deputy Chief Executives at AoC which is where he has worked for 17 years. He is AoC’s specialist on funding, finance and regulation issues while also line managing AoC’s policy team and international director. In his role at AoC he gives evidence to Select Committees, works with thinktanks, helps government officials implement policy and advises principals and governing bodies on college strategies. Before he joined AoC, he was City Lit’s finance director, registrar at Lewisham College and, at the start of his career, an auditor with Price Waterhouse. He has a degree in history.

Tim has been Executive Dean at QA Higher Education since 2014. Prior to this he was Executive Dean for a number of years at Kaplan Holborn College and before that he held a number of Programme Director roles. He holds an undergraduate degree from Oxford and a PhD from Cambridge.

At QA Higher Education, Tim has overall responsibility for the academic aspects of all of our programmes. This involves working closely with our Quality Department, the lecturing teams, and of course our University partners.

He does still manage to get into the classroom on occasion, but much of his role today is centred on academic management rather than teaching. Students who find themselves doing a maths or statistics class may find Tim in the seminar room with them.

Rachel joined HEPI in November 2018, as Director of Policy and Advocacy and has written about a wide variety of HE policy issues, including the financial stability of universities and the impact of focusing on graduate employment metrics. Prior to joining HEPI, Rachel held a number of roles at the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), focused on data policy and governance and gathering requirements for information that could be met from HESA data. Rachel also lead on the review of data on graduate destinations and designed and implemented the new Graduate Outcomes survey.

David is CEO at Met Film School and has worked at many other independent providers. David has an in-depth knowledge of delivery models, academic standards, quality assurance, data, student admissions and enrolment, and associated activities. He also specialises in the area of international development and led ICMP’s international strategic and operational activities.

Jessica is a Senior Advisor at the Behavioural Insights Team leading on post-16 education and skills policy. She has designed and delivered behavioural interventions to support learner decision-making and positive outcomes in a range of educational contexts including career guidance, Technical Education, Higher Education, lifelong learning and apprenticeships. Prior to joining BIT she worked as a Social Researcher in central Government.

Paul Jeffrey has been Head of Student Migration Policy at the Home Office since March 2018. He is responsible for strategy and policy development across the Student, Child Student, Graduate, Short-term Study and Parent of a Child Student Immigration routes. He was previously Private Secretary to the Minister for Countering Extremism.

David Kernohan is an Associate Editor of Wonkhe. Until June 2016, he worked at Jisc as a programme manager and senior codesign manager, after being seconded from HEFCE in 2006. He has also worked for the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales).  As Associate Editor, David has responsibility for the development and delivery of a variety of editorial content. His key areas of wonkishness include teaching quality enhancement policy, funding policy, sector agency politics and history, research policy, and the use of technology and data in Higher Education.

David has written for Wonkhe since foundation, and also maintains a personal blog.

Viktoria Kis is a policy analyst with extensive experience of VET policy. She is the lead author of “Seven Questions about Apprenticeships: Answers from International Experience” (2018). She is the co-author two major comparative studies: “Learning for Jobs” and “Skills beyond School”, which synthesise findings and policy messages drawn from country reviews conducted between 2007 and 2014 around the world. She is the lead author of individual country reviews of upper secondary or postsecondary VET in eight countries. She has also worked on the OECD Survey of Adult Skills and is a co-author of the report Time for the U.S. to Reskill? (2013). Prior to this, she worked on the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education.

Clare has been UCAS Chief Executive since 2017 and feels privileged to lead it through a period of dramatic digital transformation which puts students at the centre of all it provides, from admissions through to information and advice, data analysis and insights and the provision of commercial products and services through UCAS Media. Clare started her career within manufacturing, before moving to management consultancy with Deloitte, then central and local government, latterly as Chief Executive of Worcestershire County Council. She graduated from Hull University in 1993 and gained a MSc from the Open University in 1998.

Anthony McClaran is the second Vice Chancellor of St Mary’s University and took up the post on 20 April 2020. Anthony has recently returned to the UK from Australia, where he served as CEO of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) from 2015 to 2020. Prior to that move, Anthony was Chief Executive of the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) from 2009-15 and Chief Executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) from 2003-09.

A graduate with a First Class Honours degree in English and American Literature from the University of Kent, Anthony began his career in higher education at the University of Warwick, where he held a number of posts including Admissions Officer. In 1992 he moved to the University of Hull to take up the post of Academic Registrar, with responsibility for recruitment, admissions, student records, international affairs and academic resource allocation. In 1995 he was appointed Acting Registrar and Secretary.

 Anthony has served as a member of the boards of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), and has recently begun his second term on the International Advisory Board for the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). During his time in Australia he was a member of the Audit and Risk Committee for the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB), and was a member of the Expert Panel for the National Review of Teacher Registration and Implementation Group for Admissions Transparency. He has held a number of governance roles at all levels of education and was Chair of Council and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire from 2007 to 2009.

Anthony is married to Mary-Ann and they have four children.

 Ana is Deputy Director for Approvals at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. She has been in post since November 2016 and prepared the organisation for its legislative launch in April 2017.

Prior to the Institute, Ana worked for over ten years in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its predecessors. She led on the National Innovation Plan, policy and communications for the Regional Growth Fund and the simplification of business support. A career highlight was working on the government’s strategy combating Animal Rights Extremism and its impact on business, for which she was recognised with an MBE.

Before becoming a civil servant Ana had a varied career in the private sector including experience in banking and marketing. 

James is Study Group’s Managing Director of Development for UK and Europe, having joined the business in 2007. He has held a variety of senior international roles in the music industry and education publishing and graduated from the University of Cambridge, followed by an MBA from IMD.

Tim is the Managing Director of Microcredentials at the Open University, leading the strategic development of Microcredentials of paid short courses, alongside platform partner, FutureLearn.

Tim’s work history includes some of the UK’s most respected organisations including the BBC, The British Museum, The British Council and Nesta. His professional experience spans digital learning products, digital publishing, social-first content, podcasts, live streamed event, event cinema and VR production as well as traditional television and radio production.

Previously Chief Content Officer at Green Rock Media, with responsibility for creative development and production delivery. At Green Rock Tim led the launch of TOG Studios, a new flexible content production space in central London, in partnership with The Office Group.

Previously Director of Digital Arts and Media at Nesta, overseeing a £7m portfolio of work encouraging innovation and collaboration between the arts, technology and media sectors.

Prior to Nesta, Tim was responsible for the delivery of all the BBC’s History and Science content online including being the digital lead for the BBC’s World War One Centenary season. Prior to that Tim was the first Head of Digital Media and Publishing at the British Museum, conceiving and delivering ‘Pompeii Live’ – an international cinema event with gross sales of over £2m.

Previous roles include project leadership of the BBC’s award-winning Digital Olympics programme, delivering 2,500 hours of Olympic Games content over digital platforms. Tim was responsible for launching the first web sites for key broadcast brands including BBC Radio 2 & BBC 6Music and newspapers including The Times, Sun and Sunday Times.

Tim is a non-Exec Director of The Space (a partnership between the BBC and Arts Council England) – commissioning and showcasing great art digitally and adviser to the BBC on its digital arts strategy.

Tim holds an MBA awarded with Merit and am an accomplished conference speaker on the future of content in a digital-first world.

 Aaron Porter has a portfolio of roles in the higher education sector. He is the Associate Director (Governance) for Advance HE leading a national training programme for members of higher education boards and councils which has over 800 participants each year, and has led governance reviews at over 25 universities in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Australia. He is also the non-executive chair of BPP university, on the council of Goldsmiths University and chair of a specialist higher education college based in East London.

Previously, Aaron has served as a non-executive director on a number of sector boards including UCAS, the OIA and the HEA. He is a previous President of the National Union of Students (NUS), after studying at the University of Leicester, where he read English and was President of the students’ union.

Outside of higher education, Aaron is a governor of primary and seconday schools in the London Borough of Croydon and is a member of the education committee of a healthcare regulator.

Anant Rangan is an international second year LLB (Hons) student at the University of Birmingham. He is passionate about promoting global interconnectedness through education, as he is Indian-born, American-raised, and British-educated. In his time in the UK, Anant has pursued opportunities to represent his fellow students and university. He is a student mentor, a student ambassador, and a member of the International Student Reference Group. He has also been engaged in feedback sessions at the university to improve assessment feedback and support offered to international students. Anant is keen to use his role as a #WeAreInternational Student Ambassador to shape policymaking.

Sue commenced her role as Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University in January 2018.  Previously she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Development at the University of Lincoln where she was responsible for the student journey from application to alumni activities, and had oversight of the Colleges of Science and Arts.

Sue is a palaeontologist by background.  After being an academic at Cambridge, Leicester and Edinburgh she moved into senior management, first as Assistant Principal and then Vice Principal at the University of Edinburgh.  She is an HEA Principal Fellow.

Sue is currently an Executive Member of the MillionPlus group (The Association for Modern Universities). In addition Sue is Chair of Student Minds (Student Mental Health Charity) and a Board Member for the QAA (Quality Assurance Agency).  Sue is also acting as Chair of the QAA Credit Framework Group (developing a credit framework for English Universities).

In the recent past Sue was the Chair of the Natural Sciences TEF Pilot Panel and Chair of the Learning Gain Steering Group for Office for Students.

Sue led the Inclusive Development strand of the BIS Disabled Students Sector Leadership Group.  In addition she led the work undertaken by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to define information needs for taught postgraduate students.  This work has now been formalised into national policy across the whole of the UK, affecting all Universities and many HE colleges.

 Brian is Director of Education & Training / Dean at the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust.  He has considerable experience in strategy development and delivery of postgraduate educational provision and clinical services.  With 25 years NHS experience he is passionate about improving mental health and wellbeing and is a Board Trustee for Student Minds.

Dr Janet Rose is currently Principal of Norland College, a specialist education and training  HEI for early years practitioners.  Norland received Taught Degree Awarding Powers in 2019 and has been rated TEF Gold for the 2nd time.  Norland was the winner of the WhatUni Student Choice Awards in the Independent HE category last year.  Janet is a former Reader in Education (Associate Professor) and has led various undergraduate and post-graduate degree programmes at several universities, as well as various research projects. She has undertaken numerous keynotes at both national and international conferences, most recently at Harvard University and in Australia, and has presented her work at the House of Lords and the House of Commons.  Her work focuses on behaviour and wellbeing, but includes work on leadership within educational institutions, with presentations to Advance HE and the former National College of Teaching and Learning.  She is the author of numerous academic and professional publications.

 Professor Sir Steve Smith has been Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Exeter since October 2002. He was previously Professor of International Politics and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, as well as Head of the Department of International Politics, and Director of the Centre for Public Choice Studies at the University of East Anglia. He holds a BSc in Politics and International Studies, an MSc in International Studies, and a PhD in International Relations, all from Southampton University.

Sir Steve has a long-standing interest in international matters and has been recognised internationally for his work. He has held the positions of:

·                Chair of Universities UK’s International Policy Network

·                Chair of Universities UK’s International Strategic Advisory Board

Sir Steve has held several prominent positions in the UK higher education sector. Most notably he was President of Universities UK (UUK), the representative body for the executive heads of UK universities, from 2009 to 2011; and Chair of the UCAS Board from 2013 to 2019.

From June 2007 to May 2010, he led for higher education on the Prime Minister’s National Council of Excellence in Education, which provided advice to the Government about strategy and measured to achieve world-class education performance for children and young people. He was also a member of the Institute for Public Policy Research’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education.

Sir Steve was knighted in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to higher education locally and nationally. In 2019 he was awarded Freeman of the City of Exeter for his contribution to the city and local community.

Dr Rox has studied at six different universities in Australia, the UK and Indonesia. She has degrees in the law, arts, theatre, intellectual and cultural property and higher education management. Her professional life is equally eclectic, having worked for a FTSE100, a FTSE 250, an entrepreneurial start-up, an intrapreneurial start-up, and across education, law, and the arts. As Principal of Pearson College London her role is the establishment of a boutique higher education institution whose mission is to transform how employers and academia work together for the benefit of the students. She also has a blog at roxanne.stockwell.co.uk.

Jack is the Deputy Director for Quality and Regulation at the Department of Education. His team is responsible for sponsorship of the Office for Students, and for working with the OfS and HE providers to ensure that students receive high quality HE provision which supports them to develop the skills needed for their future careers. Prior to this, he was the Head of International HE at DfE, and responsible for development and implementation of the International Education Strategy, published in March 2019. Jack has had a number of other roles in the UK Civil Service, and also previously worked as a French teacher in Paddington Academy, a North London secondary school.

Alex Usher is the President of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a role he has held for over a decade. He is an internationally recognized expert in post-secondary strategic policy and planning.  He works for a range of Canadian and international clients on projects related to student financial aid and access to post-secondary education; rankings, benchmarking and quality measurement in higher education.  He is also active in the development of strategic plans in higher education at the national, provincial, and institutional levels.  His internationally read (and free) daily intelligence e-mail, One Thought to Start Your Day, has 10,000 subscribers. He also regularly engages with fans and critics alike on Twitter (@alexusherhesa).  He holds degrees from McGill University and Carleton University.

 Patrick joined IDP Connect, the B2B division of IDP Education, as Group Commercial Director in early 2019. He is an experienced commercial leader within the higher education sector, providing market insights and expertise in data, digital marketing and enrolment management to institutions globally. Before joining IDP, he was Director – UK & Europe at QS Enrolment Solutions and has previously worked for Hobsons in addition to roles in management consulting and publishing. In his current role, he is responsible for group commercial strategy; oversees UK, US and Canada client partnerships teams; and has strategic responsibility for IDP Connect IQ the company’s data insights unit.

Vicki joined QAA in 2019 and has responsibility for a range of functions including: Membership & Quality Enhancement Services; International & Professional Services; Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland; Quality Assurance England; and Marketing & Events. She is a member of the Executive Team and acts as Deputy CEO.

Prior to joining QAA, Vicki worked at St Hugh’s College Oxford, where she was the Bursar (COO), a Director of Oxford Limited, St Hugh’s Conferences, St Hugh’s Estates and a founding Director of NOSCS. She has also worked at University of Birmingham as the Director of Strategic Planning and in various roles at the University of Warwick and Warwick Business School. She started her career in Higher Education at UMIST, where she worked in international student recruitment. Vicki also has experience in the commercial and charity sectors, having run her own company and been director of a charity working with women and families affected by domestic abuse.

 Jess Woodsford is the Director for SEER. The Specialist Evidence, Evaluation and Research (SEER) partnership is a new collaborative service for small, specialist and newly registered/ing higher education providers. SEER’s focus is on supporting this group with regulatory and institutional priorities relating to access and participation, in the critical area of data and monitoring, evaluation and research.

Jess joined SEER in February 2020 from her role at the Office for Students (OfS), where she worked in the Fair Access and Participation Directorate. Jess has worked in the area of fair access and participation for the last 9 years, holding positions in the offices of the regulator and working with higher education institutions. Jess previously held the role of Head of Programmes at the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) (predecessor of the Office for Students), where she led on regulatory processes. She has a wealth of experience and expertise, and a dedicated passion for the agenda.