Board members
Pedro Barra (Academic Staff Member)
Pedro is an Associate Professor within the School of Life Sciences Pharmacy and Chemistry at Kingston University. He is a graduate from University of Porto, Portugal, in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and came to the UK in 2000 to complete his MSc and PhD studies.
Stephan Burow (Independent Member)
Stephan has an international background, having been born in Germany before finishing schooling in Scotland. He's also spent time in the US and Southeast Asia.
Katharine Jackson (Independent Member)
Katharine has over 30 years experience in publishing, much of it focused on providing resources for teaching, learning and research in Higher Education. Most recently she was CEO of Proprep, an early stage Edtech, providing online STEM learning which she developed to improve student outcomes in UK higher education.
Abdullah Khan (Student Member)
Abdullah is the President of Kingston Students' Union (KSU) for the 2024/25 academic year and actively represents Kingston University students. Abdullah previously served as the Vice President of Education for 2023/24. After a successful year of student representation, he was re-elected as President and aims to enhance the student experience and foster an inclusive environment in his capacity.
Roger King (Independent Member)
Professor Roger King was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lincoln and is a Visiting Professor and Teaching Fellow in the School of Management, University of Bath. He is the Senior Director of Wells Advisory HE Ltd., a higher education management consultancy company, and has published numerous books and articles on regulation, governance, science policy, and globalisation.
Ian Jennings (Professional Services Staff Governor)
I was recently elected as the voice for Professional Services staff on the Board of Governors at a time when the sector is facing many challenges, both financially and politically. I am looking forward to working with the Board to identify strategies to positively influence Kingston University.
John Marsh (Independent Member)
John is a Partner at Ernst & Young LLP (EY) where he leads the Health Consulting Practice and specialises in People Consulting. John has consulted extensively across the public sector for the last 16 years for clients in Health, Central Government and Local Services. John is also a Non-Executive Director at Surrey Heartlands NHS Integrated Care Board and the Chair of Surrey Downs Health and Care Partnership Board.
Caroline Mawhood (Independent Member)
Caroline was a prominent figure in auditing for more than 12 years as Assistant Auditor General in the National Audit Office and she now has a number of non-executive roles.
Bimal Patel (Independent Member)
Bimal is the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. He has over 20 years of NHS acute provider experience and has held the role of Chief Finance Officer in two NHS organisations. He is a CIMA qualified accountant and has worked at all levels within finance, from a Trainee accountant to Head of Financial Management and then to Head of Financial Control with a variety of experience.
Andrew Pearce (Independent Member and Chair of Remuneration Committee)
Andrew Pearce is an Independent Non-Executive Director on the CSL (Chaucer Syndicates Ltd) Board. CSL is a global speciality (re) insurance group. He is also a member of the Audit Committee, Risk and Capital Committee, and Remuneration and Nominations Committee. Andrew previously was employed as a Managing Director for Accenture Operations (UK and Ireland).
Francis Small (Chair of Board of Governors and Nominations and Governance Committee)
Francis Small is Chair of Quixant PLC, an AIM-listed technology company, and a Non–Executive Director of 1Spatial plc, another AIM–listed technology company where he chairs the Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee.
Tom Smyth (Independent Member and Chair of Finance Committee)
Tom has over 35 years' experience of financial markets, the last 25 years of which were at Rothschild & Co from where he recently retired as Executive Vice Chairman, Financing Advisory.
Steven Spier (Ex-officio Member)
A respected expert in architecture, theatre and dance, Professor Spier was appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor in October 2016, and then Vice-Chancellor in May 2017. He was formerly Dean of the University's Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture. Under his leadership, the Faculty rose to prominence as one of the top providers of design education, both in the United Kingdom and around the globe.
Katy Taylor (Independent Member)
Katy is Chief Executive at Wightlink, the Isle of Wight ferry. She was previously Chief Customer Officer at Southern Water; prior to that Chief Strategy and Customer Officer at FTSE250 passenger group Go-Ahead. She has also held director-leave roles at Kroll, VTB Bank and IG Group.
Richard Thomas (Independent Member)
Richard is a Chartered Accountant with experience in the private and public sectors. Most recently, he was Chief Financial Officer at the British Council which operates in around 100 countries supporting the English language, education and arts to build trust in the UK and help connect UK institutions with partners around the world.
Contact us
Kingston University
Tel: +44 (0)20 8417 9000
Useful links
Contact us
Kingston University
Tel: +44 (0)20 8417 9000