Judging the 2017 awards will be specialists from within the Guardian and across the higher education sector in the UK. Guardian journalists on the panel will include Richard Adams, Sally Weale, Judy Friedberg, David Batty and Rebecca Ratcliffe.
Our expert judges from the higher education sector will include:
Maddalaine Ansell
Maddalaine is chief executive of the University Alliance. A former solicitor, she has held a number of civil service appointments including with the prime minister’s delivery unit, Home Office and BIS. She worked on the HE white paper for the then minister for universities and science, David Willetts, and was appointed to the position of deputy director, International Knowledge and Innovation in 2011.
Shelly Asquith
Shelly is a vice-president of the National Union of Students, which represents 7 million students in further and higher education in the UK. She was previously president of the student union at the University of the Arts London and is a regular contributor to Guardian Students.
Kalwant Bhopal
Kalwant is currently professor of education and social justice at the University of Southampton. From January she will be based at the University of Birmingham. Her areas of interest and expertise are centred around the achievements and experiences of minority ethnic groups in education. She is visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has recently been appointed visiting professor at Kings College London (department of education and professional studies).
Paul Boyle
Paul is president and vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester. Previously, he was chief executive of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and he is president of Science Europe. He is also chair of the Scottish Science Advisory Council, ; a board member of Universities UK; an impact champion for the United Nations HeForShe global solidarity movement for gender equality and a council member and trustee of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Mary Curnock Cook
Mary recently announced she is standing down as chief executive of Ucas, a role she has held since January 2010. She has worked in a variety of education-related roles at a senior executive and non-executive level. Mary was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours 2000. She is a governor at Swindon academy, and a trustee of the Access Project and the National Star Foundation. In 2015 she was awarded an honorary fellowship of Birkbeck College, University of London, and was an academic visitor at Hertford College, University of Oxford in 2015-16.
Ian Dunn
Ian’s success in the 2016 Guardian Higher Education Awards “Inspiring Leader” category sums up the way he works with colleagues, students and the local community alike. Currently the deputy vice-chancellor for student experience, he is a driving force behind a number of prestigious additions to the University’s widening portfolio - most recently Coventry University Scarborough Campus (CUSC) and Coventry University College (CUC).
Matt Hiely-Rayner
Matt founded Intelligent Metrix Ltd in 2009 – the company that provides the statistics and rankings to the Guardian’s University Guide. Responsible for designing the guide’s unique value-added score, Matt is especially interested in developing this as a means of illustrating gaps in attainment between different student groups. Matt is also head of planning at Kingston University.
Nick Hillman
Nick has been the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) since January 2014. He worked for David Willetts, then minister for Universities and Science, from 2007 until the end of 2013, as chief of staff and then special adviser in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Previously, he was a history teacher and worked at the Association of British Insurers. At the 2010 general election, he was the runner-up in Cambridge.
Alistair Jarvis
Alistair is deputy chief executive of Universities UK (UUK). He has strategic oversight of UUK’s communications and political affairs work, as well as its operational services. He works with the chief executive on senior external engagement, strategy and development of the organisation. Currently Alistair is leading UUK’s work to address the implications of Brexit and is also coordinating an internal programme to enhance UUK’s business infrastructure and systems. Before taking up his current role, he was director of communications and external relations at Universities UK.
Smita Jamdar
Smita is relationship partner for Shakespeare Martineau’s university and college clients and advises on strategic, regulatory, constitutional, governance and student matters. Identified as a leader in her field in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, her approach is best summed up by Chambers & Partners: “She is very knowledgeable about the sector, very well informed about the challenges the sector faces, and insightful about how we could change and adapt.” Smita is a regular speaker at sector conferences and an enthusiastic contributor to the firm’s education blog.
Mark Leach
Mark is the director and editor in chief of Wonkhe – the popular website and think tank at the heart of the UK higher education debate. Journalist, entrepreneur and policy wonk, Mark has worked in HE for the National Union of Students, Hefce, University Alliance, GuildHE and in politics as a special adviser for the former shadow minister for Universities and Science.
Emma Leech
Emma is director of marketing and advancement at Loughborough University, overseeing communications, marketing, recruitment, web and digital, widening participation, international and fundraising and development. She is recent former chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s HE sector interest group. Emma started her career in fashion and consumer PR in 1988, working in tourism and destination marketing before settling in higher education in 1997. She has won a string of awards over two decades spanning PR, marketing, innovation, fundraising, digital, and web.
David Ruebain
David took up the post of chief executive of the Equality Challenge Unit in June 2010, a policy and research agency funded to advance equality and diversity in universities in the UK and colleges in Scotland and England. Prior to that, he was a practicing solicitor for 21 years; latterly as director of legal policy at the Equality and Human Rights Commission of Great Britain.
Mary Stuart
Mary is vice chancellor of the University of Lincoln. She is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and the Open University where she obtained her doctorate in social policy in 1998. Her research interests are focused on life histories, social mobility, students and community development. Mary has a strong track record in all aspects of university management, having worked in senior roles in three different universities.
Pam Tatlow
Pam is chief executive of MillionPlus, the association for modern universities. Pam qualified as a teacher and has worked in education, health and in public and parliamentary affairs. She participates in several stakeholder and policy groups related to higher education and regularly contributes to public platforms and conferences. She is a graduate of Nottingham and Leicester Universities and was awarded an honorary doctorate for services to higher education by the University of Bolton in 2015. She was appointed as a lay judge on the Employment Appeal Tribunal in 2002.
Kevin Van Cauter
Kevin is higher education adviser at the British Council, specialising in transnational education and student mobility, with overall responsibility for the British Council’s agents strategy. For over a decade, Kevin has authored articles presented at conferences all over the world. His most recent research (as commissioning editor) is the Impact of Transnational Education on Host countries (2014).
Andy Westwood
Andy is co-director of policy at the University of Manchester. He is also a professor of further and higher education at the University of Wolverhampton, president of the OECD forum on social innovation and an expert adviser to the IMF. Andy is also a trustee of the National Union of Students and a member of Hefce’s strategic advisory board for quality, accountability and regulation. Previously he worked at a number of think tanks, was a special adviser to ministers on education and science policy at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and was a senior adviser at HM Treasury.
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