Speakers

• Debbie McVitty

  Editor, Wonkhe

  Debbie McVitty, Editor, Wonkhe

• David Eastwood

  Former vice chancellor, University of Birmingham

  Professor Sir David Eastwood formerly held the position of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, a role he took up in 2009. Previously, he was Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Former posts also included Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, and Chief Executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Board.

• Mark Leach

  Founder & Editor in Chief, Wonkhe and former Labour adviser

  Mark Leach is the founder, Editor in Chief and CEO of Wonkhe. Mark worked in policy, politics and public affairs in and around UK higher education and founded Wonkhe in 2011 while working as a jobbing policy wonk in the sector. The first part of his career took him to the National Union of Students, … Continued

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  Andy Westwood

  Professor of Government Practice, University of Manchester and former Labour adviser

  Andy Westwood, Vice Dean for Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Humanities and Professor of Government Practice, University of Manchester 

• Smita Jamdar

  Partner and Head of Education, Shakespeare Martineau

  Smita leads the team that works to shape the universities and colleges of the future by providing strategic advice and sector specific insight across all their legal needs. Smita is a recognised leader in her field, specialising in constitutional, governance and regulatory advice which helps educational institutions thrive in a rapidly changing landscape. She has … Continued

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  Mary Stuart

  Director of Leadership Development at Minerva, UK and former Vice Chancellor, University of Lincoln

  Mary Stuart has had a long career in Higher Education covering most academic roles. She spent 15 years at the University of Sussex moving from a lecturing role to becoming Pro Vice Chancellor for Students and Professor of Continuing Education. In 2005, she moved to Kingston University as Deputy Vice Chancellor and in 2009 was … Continued

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  Jonathan Grant

  Author, The New Power University

  Jonathan’s personal interests are in biomedical and health R&D policy, research impact assessment, the use of research and evidence in policy and decision-taking, and the social purpose of universities in the 21st century. He is passionate about coupling creative thinking with in-depth analysis to challenge existing assumptions and orthodoxies, generating new insights, and stimulating productive … Continued

• Mark Corver

  Founder, dataHE

  Dr Mark Cover, co-Founder of dataHE, is an experienced Executive Director with expertise in data strategy and innovation. With 20 years at the forefront of developments in data and higher education, Mark has helped organisations to use data both to set strategy and achieve objectives. Prior to founding dataHE, Mark was Director of Analysis and … Continued

• David Kernohan

  Associate Editor, Wonkhe

  David Kernohan is 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 … Continued

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  Jim Dickinson

  Associate Editor, Wonkhe

  Jim is an Associate Editor at Wonkhe and takes a particular interest in the student experience, university governance, and regulation – and leads our work with students’ unions. His career background is in support for student leadership. He has held senior roles at the National Union of Students – where he led on SU development, … Continued

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  Sunday Blake

  Associate Editor, Wonkhe

  Sunday Blake is President at Exeter Guild of Students

• Mike Ratcliffe

  Former Academic Registrar

  Mike Ratcliffe was the Academic Registrar at Nottingham Trent University. Mike is a career academic administrator, who’s also held senior posts at Winchester and Oxford Brookes universities. Having become unnaturally interested in universities in themselves, he is particularly fascinated with their history and philosophy and has been doing postgraduate study at the UCL Institute of … Continued

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  Nora Colton

  Director, Global Business School of Health, UCL

  Professor Nora Colton is the Director of the UCL Global Business School of Health. She is a health and development economist with extensive experience in change management and strategy. Previous to this role she was the UCL Pro-Vice-Provost (Postgraduate Education) and Joint Director of Education at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital.  … Continued