Board of Governors

Meet the members

John Harley Chair
Vice-Chancellor Professor Debra Humphris
Janey Walker Deputy Chair

Independent members

Marc Allsop
Trevor Beattie
Amanda Feggetter
John Gill
Fergus Low
Rosalynde Lowe, CBE
Rafat Malik
Abigail Masterson
Stephen Maycock
Jacqueline Minor

Teaching staff

Julie Fowlie
Dr Lizzy Ostler

Student member

Hayley Wood

Co-opted members

Edward Rhodes

John Harley

Chair of the Board of Governors

John is the Chair of our Board of Governors, Chairman of the Nominations Committee, and a member of the Employment, Finance and Infrastructure, and Remuneration Committees. He has served on the Board since 2008, and as Deputy Chairman from August 2012 to July 2015. He is a career chartered accountant, having been a partner at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and subsequently EY (Ernst & Young) where he was Global Head of Client Strategy and then Global Head of Private Equity before retiring in early 2011.

John went on to focus on emerging companies and chaired the Kent Investors Network, a group of business angel investors between 2011 and 2015, and now chairs two independent companies - TradeRiver Finance, for importers and exporters, and Family Business Place which supports British family firms. His corporate work also includes the Competition and Markets Authority where he is a panel member.

He has always had a strong interest in developing opportunities for young people and is a director of the NCS Trust - the National Citizen Service for 15–17 year olds, where he chairs the Finance and Risk Committee. He is Deputy Chair of the EY Foundation which seeks to assist disadvantaged teenagers and young adults in finding employment, and Chair of the Becket Trust, an affordable housing charity based in Penshurst, Kent. He is also a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Audit and Strategic Advisory Committees.

John is a keen marathon runner and triathlete and uses his enthusiasm for sport to raise funds for many charities.

Professor Debra Humphris

Vice-Chancellor

Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Debra Humphris, is responsible for leadership and management of the university, within the policies laid down by the Board of Governors of which she is an ex-officio member. This includes line management for the Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Pro-Vice-Chancellor – Learning and Teaching; Pro-Vice-Chancellor – Research; Chief Operating Officer; Registrar and Secretary. Debra is a member of the Employment, Finance and Infrastructure, Nominations and Remuneration Committees of the Board of Governors.

More about Professor Debra Humphris

Janey Walker

Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors

Janey has been Deputy Chair from 1 August 2016, and one of the 12 independent members of the Board, a member since 1 August 2014. She is a member of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee.

Janey is a non-executive member of the content board at Ofcom advising on editorial standards and regulation in broadcasting.

Previously Managing Editor and Head of Education at Channel 4, she has senior editorial and commercial experience in television, digital media and education. She was Managing Director of the Indie Training Fund, a not-for-profit organisation providing TV training for production companies and freelancers, and she developed and launched IGGY (a global online network for gifted students aged 13 to 18) at the University of Warwick. She graduated from the University of York with a degree in history/politics. She has won a number of awards including an international Emmy and the Fellowship of the Royal Television Society. She is a Trustee of the University of Brighton Academies Trust.

Independent Members

Marc Allsop

Marc is one of the 12 independent members of the Board, a member since 1 August 2015. Marc is Chair of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee and a member of the Nominations and Student Affairs Committees. He is an alumnus of the university, having graduated in 1998 with a BA(Hons) Management Studies with French degree.

Marc is currently Senior Vice-President – Head of Global Business Development at Aimia Inc (a global leader in loyalty management, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange). In this role, he leads the team who plan and execute the expansion of Aimia’s strategy into new territories worldwide. Prior to joining Aimia, he held various posts at American Express Europe Ltd, including Vice-President and Head of Business Development for their European business, from graduation in 1998 until March 2013.

Marc is a resident of Brighton and Hove, having remained in the city following his graduation from the School of Service Sector Management.

Trevor Beattie

Trevor is one of the 12 independent members of the Board, a member since 1 August 2014. He is Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Staff Appeals Committee. Trevor is currently Chief Executive of the South Downs National Park, with an in-depth knowledge of the environment, planning, housing and regeneration and a long track record as an Executive Board Director.

He graduated from the University of Bristol with a degree in Economics and Politics, taking urban economics as a specialist subject. He spent 10 years (1988-1997) as Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Local Government and Inner Cities, having entered the Civil Service in 1978 (Department of Transport). He was a member of a small core team which established English Partnerships and subsequently became its Southern Regional Director. He is also a member of the Greater Brighton Economic Board.

Amanda Feggetter

Amanda is one of the 12 independent members of the Board; a member since 1 August 2016. She is a member of the Employment Committee. Amanda is a chartered occupational psychologist with over 25 years’ experience. Most recently she has spent seven years in personnel, advising on HR strategies. She was educated at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Birkbeck College and Cranfield Institute of Technology. She is currently a co-opted member of the Medical Services Committee of Combat Stress and an independent specialist adviser to the Board of Directors of the Institute of Directors. She has been employed at the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as a consultant psychological adviser to the Adjutant General on Human Sciences. She has also served as a non-governor member on the HR Committee of the University of Westminster, a process verifier for the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners, a Harassment Investigating Officer for the MoD, and is currently a governor of Roedean School. Amanda is a member (and former President) of the European Association of Aviation Psychology, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a member of the British Academy of Forensic Science, a former member of the Editorial Board for Medicine Science and the Law and a retired Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

John Gill

John is one of the 12 independent members of the Board; a member since 1 August 2016. John is a member of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee. John was educated at the universities of London and Sussex. He has had 40 years’ experience in major arts organisations in the public sector covering roles as administrator, curator and director and been instrumental in the establishment of several arts organisations in the UK. He has an in-depth knowledge of the creative industries in the south-east region. Currently he is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Camden Arts Centre, a member of the Stuart Croft Foundation (a newly-formed charitable trust), Chair of the Westgate Trust in Lewes, a research fellow at Harvard College (holding the Bader Visiting Research Fellowship in the Visual Art of the Theatre) and continues to advise a variety of arts organisations on policy development and strategic planning. He has been Chair of Brighton Lighthouse Media, created Brighton Photo Biennial, a Council member and Chair of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the British School in Rome, initiated and developed an innovative, accessible and culturally-diverse programme of exhibitions, music and events at the South Bank Centre, and curated many exhibitions of contemporary art in a wide range of venues within the UK.

Fergus Low

Fergus is one of the 12 independent members of the Board; a member since 1 August 2016. Fergus is a member of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee.  Fergus spent over 30 years in real estate development, primarily in central London, but also throughout the UK and overseas. He graduated with a Bachelor of Land Economy degree from the University of Aberdeen and became a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Planning and Development Division) two years later. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Since graduating he has held senior roles at Standard Life Assurance (Property and Investment Department), Greycoat, Stanhope, Swan Hill and finally as Chief Executive Officer at More London. Throughout his career he developed close, high level working relationships in many disciplines. He has also held a number of non-executive roles (e.g. with the British Film Institute, and the Contemporary Dance Trust) and has provided advice to many organisations (e.g. the Museum of London and English Heritage). He was a consultee to the Chancellor at Aberdeen on the development of the university and its financing.

Rosalynde Lowe, CBE

Rosalynde is one of the 12 independent members of the Board, a member since August 2008. She is Chair of the Student Affairs Committee and a member of the Employment and Student Appeals Committees.

Rosalynde has spent her career working in the NHS, and healthcare generally in a variety of roles, including acute, community and mental healthcare, in the UK and internationally. She has been a clinician, manager and chief executive.

Rosalynde was a member of the Audit Commission from 1995–2001. She has been a Trustee of the Queen's Nursing Institute Council since 2001 and was its Chair from 2002–2012.

She chaired a Review of Health Visiting for the Chief Nurse and Secretary of State in 2007.

She has worked as an advisor to the World Health Organisation (WHO) on health systems development in Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro; chaired an expert working group on nurse education for the Council of Europe; and run two projects developing community nursing in Moscow with Age Concern England and the Moscow Red Cross. Rosalynde was awarded a CBE for services to nursing and healthcare in 2011.

Rafat Malik

Rafat is one of the 12 independent members of the Board; a member since 1 August 2016. He is a member of the Audit Committee. Rafat was educated at the University of Warwick, Coventry University, Royal Holloway College and Kings College London. He is currently Vice-President, Corporate Partnerships of the Financial Times | IE Business School Corporate Learning Alliance, responsible for the start-up and development of business activities in Europe, and the Middle East. He was previously employed at Duke Corporate Education as Director of Business Development and Vice-President of the Middle East. Rafat has also spent five years at Imperial College in three senior leadership roles. He has worked in government, military and high technology commercial environments from the outset of his career. He is, by training, an engineer/aviator. An entrepreneur by nature he has a passion for innovation, technology, business creation and leadership. He has held, or holds, a number of professional and academic affiliations, company directorships (being the Founder and a Board member of LCAWorks Ltd, BareConducive Ltd and Dome Capital Management LLP and the Founder Managing Partner of M&R Partners LLP) and advisory roles (including as an advisor to the Qatari Royal Family).

Abigail Masterson

Abi is one of the 12 independent members of the Board; a member since 1 August 2016 and a member of the Audit Committee. Abi was educated at the universities of Edinburgh, Surrey, Cardiff and Warwick and has a Professional Doctorate in Organisational Change from Ashridge Business School. She is Director of Abi Masterson Consulting Ltd and has held various posts in the health sector since graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 1986 including Assistant Director Leadership at the Health Foundation and Deputy Chief Executive of the Florence Nightingale Foundation. As a consultant Abi has undertaken extensive strategy work with public sector, professional association and third sector organisations, leading to substantial organisational change. She also has experience of working within and refining and creating new governance structures for a variety of organisations, for example working with trustees of large national charities to develop new governance and impact strategies to reflect best practice in the sector. Her additional professional activity includes being a reviewer for many grant awarding organisations and numerous professional and academic journals. She is also a member of an editorial advisory board.

Stephen Maycock

Stephen is one of 12 independent members of the Board and has been a member since August 2008. He is chair of the Employment Committee and the Research Complex Circumstances Committee (for the Research Excellence Framework), and a member of the Remuneration Committee (for the Research Excellence Framework), the Professorial Board, and the Staff and Student Appeals Committees. 

He is a graduate of the university’s (formerly Brighton Polytechnic) Brighton Business School with a Business Studies BA. 

Stephen has held senior human resources positions and directorships in the private sector. He has been employed with NYSE: Willis Group Holdings since 1996, and served as Group, Board and Operating Committee director as well as a Remuneration Committee member and registered Financial Services Authority (FSA) member for Willis UK Ltd. 

He has also worked with S.C. Johnson & Son Inc in North America, Europe and Africa, Grand Metropolitan, Xerox Corporation and the Ford Motor Company Ltd. 

During his career he has been appointed to various associations: Fellow of the CIPD, Member of the American Society of Human Resource Managers, Member of the International Human Resources Society and Member of the Institute of Directors. 

He has held a number of non-executive directorships including the Ministry of Defence Tri-Services Strategic Personnel Board. 

Stephen currently advises small business and individuals on employment and total remuneration matters. He is a Director Trustee of the Johnson Wax Ltd Retirement and Life Assurance Plan. He also acts as a mentor to university students and graduates, as well as supporting the development of young people through organisations such as the National Trust and other voluntary groups.

Jacqueline Minor

Jacqueline is one of the 12 independent members of the Board, a member since 1 August 2014. She is Chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Employment and Staff Appeals Committees.

Jacqueline was the Head of the European Commission's Representation in the UK, responsible for representing the European Commission and reporting to it until February 2017. She had overall responsibility for the UK Representation and the activities of the three offices in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and is the Commission's Spokesperson in the UK. A lawyer by training she began her career in the European Institutions at the Court of Justice in 1984. She moved to the European Commission in 1987 to work on the recognition of diplomas and later had a second spell at the court working as referendaire to two British judges. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Birmingham in 2016 and became a honorary Senior Fellow of Regent's University, London in 2017.

Teaching staff

Julie Fowlie

Julie is one of the two teacher members of the Board; a member since 1 August 2016. She is a member of the Staff Appeals Committee. Ms Fowlie is passionate about the future of the university and in contributing to its governance she will be drawing upon her personal qualities, expertise, research and scholarship. Her industry background is management development within the financial sector, which involved facilitating change through objective analysis, team building and leadership. She joined the university in 2000, completing an MA in Academic Practice and progressing from a Lecturer to Principal Lecturer and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has a particular interest in technology and employability (she will be participating in the pilot looking at data analytics/student retention and presented at the first Employability and Enterprise Conference in 2016).

Dr Lizzy Ostler

Lizzy is one of the two teacher members of the Board; a member since November 2014, having previously served on the Board. She is a member of the Staff Appeals Committee. Lizzy joined the university in 1997 and is now Principal Lecturer in Chemistry (P&BS) and Assistant Head (QA) of the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. Lectures in Analytical Chemistry, and has been a course leader and admissions tutor, and undertakes research into the chemistry of ageing.

Student member

Hayley Wood

Hayley has been the student member of the Board since 1 July 2015. She is a member of the Student Affairs Committee. She is also President of the University of Brighton Students’ Union. Hayley graduated from the university with a BA(Hons) Sociology and Social Policy.

Co-opted members

Edward Rhodes

Edward is one of the four co-opted members of the Board, filling the place set aside for a member of the university's support staff; a member since 1 August 2014. He is a member of the Staff Appeals Committee. Edward is a research administrator in the School of Environment and Technology, having worked in the School (and its predecessor) since 2000 in a number of front-line administrative roles. He is a member of the School's Health and Safety Committee. He was the Treasurer of an investment club for five years and has undertaken a number of volunteering roles. Edward graduated from the University of Sussex with an MA in History.

Vacant

Member with experience in the provision of education.