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Dr Joanna Newman is Chief Executive and Secretary General of the ACU. She joined the ACU in April 2017 and is responsible for fostering and promoting the aims of the ACU, as defined by its membership, in developing inter-Commonwealth relations in the field of higher education.

Before joining the ACU, Joanna was the Vice-Principal (International) at King’s College London where she was responsible for all international matters for the university. In previous positions, Joanna represented the UK higher education sector as Director of the UK Higher Education International Unit (now known as Universities UK International) where she negotiated the UK’s role in Brazil’s Science without Borders mobility scheme, launched HE Global and initiated a number of international partnerships on behalf of the UK HE sector. Before this, she was Head of Higher Education at the British Library where she commissioned the Google Generation report and was responsible for introducing researchers to one of the world’s greatest research libraries.

Joanna is a Senior Research Fellow in the History Faculty at King’s and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Southampton and has taught history at University College London and the University of Warwick. In 2014, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her work promoting British higher education internationally.

Joanna is on the board of the School of Advanced Studies, University of London International Academy, University of London; The Conversation UK and the VITAE external advisory board. She has been a judge on the Times Higher Education Awards. She regularly speaks at conferences, roundtables and on international platforms representing the UK on issues relating to Higher Education and internationalisation.

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Andreas Schleicher is Director for Education and Skills, and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

As a key member of the OECD Senior Management team, Mr. Schleicher supports the Secretary-General’s strategy to produce analysis and policy advice that advances economic growth and social progress. He promotes the work of the Directorate for Education and Skills on a global stage and fosters co-operation both within and outside the OECD. In addition to policy and country reviews, the work of the Directorate includes the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), and the development and analysis of benchmarks on the performance of education systems (INES).

Before joining the OECD, Mr. Schleicher was Director for Analysis at the International Association for Educational Achievement (IEA). He studied Physics in Germany and received a degree in Mathematics and Statistics in Australia. He is the recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the “Theodor Heuss” prize, awarded in the name of the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany for “exemplary democratic engagement”. He holds an honorary Professorship at the University of Heidelberg.

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Dr.Rajeev Singh has been appointed as the Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata with effect from 1st September, 2006.

Prior to his appointment as Director General, Dr. Singh was actively involved with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for more than 5 years as Regional Director, posted in Chandigarh & Ahmedabad and subsequently in Kolkata. He has done extensive work in the fields of Central & State Policy Advocacy, Service Sector, Agro Business, Taxation and Bio-Technology.

In a period spanning over 18 years, Dr.Singh began his career with Rajasthan Oil Federation as Deputy Manager. He was later associated with corporate houses like Arvind Mills Limited, etc.

Dr.Singh has done his PhD in Management and has also been associated with academics as Professor in Management with Specialization in Marketing.

Dr. Singh is a sports enthusiast and enjoys getting involved with social developmental activities. He is married with two children.

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Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE, DL is the founder of Cobra Beer, Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited and of Molson Coors Cobra India, both joint ventures with the global brewing company, Molson Coors.

He is the Founding Chairman of the UK India Business Council, a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, a former Chancellor of Thames Valley University (now the University of West London); he was the youngest University Chancellor in the UK when appointed.

In 2014, he was appointed as the 7th Chancellor of the University of Birmingham and was the first Indian born Chancellor of a Russell Group University in Great Britain. Karan is Senior Non-Executive Director of the Booker Group PLC, the FTSE 250 Company of Booker Prize fame; he is one of the first two visiting entrepreneurs at the University of Cambridge; he is a founding member of the Prime Minister of India’s Global Advisory Council.

In 2006, Karan Bilimoria was appointed the Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, making him the first ever Zoroastrian Parsi to sit in the House of Lords. In 2008 he was awarded the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman by the President of India. He is an honorary fellow of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Judge Business School, Cambridge University.

He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and graduated in law from the University of Cambridge. He is also an alumnus of the Cranfield School of Management, the London Business School and the Harvard Business School. In 2015, Karan Bilimoria was appointed President of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).

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Taimur was until recently Partner at McKinsey and Company in Dubai and one of the founding members of their Pakistan office. He headed McKinsey’s Public, Social Sector, and Healthcare practices in Pakistan and co-headed their Education Practice in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

The education reform work he led in Pakistan between 2011 and 2017 was recently quoted in The Economist as “reforming at a pace rarely seen anywhere in the world”, and includes several innovations including partnerships with the private sector, the use of data to drive system level decisions, and the re-engineering of curriculum and textbook development processes to be fit for purpose, all in a school system, which with 52,000 schools and 11 million students, is one of the largest, if not the largest in the world. 

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I’m Jisc’s resident futurist. My job is to keep an eye open for emerging trends and new technologies, and see what we can do across the FE, HE and skills sector to exploit and embrace them – or mitigate against them.Prior to joining Jisc I set up a supercomputer centre for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and have a particular interest in how we can share these kinds of capital intensive facilities between institutions and also with industry.

You might think that being a futurist is all about jet packs and flying cars – and to an extent it is. However, I also spend a lot of my time looking out for things that are emerging from the research lab that we can trial or prototype.The idea is that some of these will go on to become part of Jisc’s portfolio of solutions. Sometimes these are commercial products, but there are also a lot of interesting things happening at colleges and universities that have wide applicability and are potentially transferable with a little central support.

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Thijs van Vugt is Director Analytics and Consulting Team at StudyPortals since 2015 and partner of iE&D Solutions BV since 2006. Some of his recent clients are: University of London, University of Nottingham, Karolinska Institute, University of Groningen, Utrecht University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Sciences Po. From 1989 until 2005 Thijs worked for Tilburg University (14 yrs; NL), the ERASMUS Bureau in Brussels and for Sheffield Hallam University (1.5 yrs; UK). 

Thijs is the founder of the Expert Community Marketing & Recruitment of the European Association for International Education (EAIE). He was the chair of M&R from 2002 until 2008 and was a member of EAIE’s Executive Board from 2004 until 2008. In 2006 he published a book on The Impact of Tuition Fees on International Student Recruitment and in September 2009, Thijs was awarded the Bo Gregersen Award for Best Practice of the EAIE.

Together with his business partner, René Lenssen, Thijs was partner & director of StudyWorld (Netherlands), the Netherlands’ leading student recruitment agency and one of two IELTS test centres in the Netherlands, from 2006 until 2009, when it was sold to Kilroy Education.

Thijs has a Master’s degree in Economics from Tilburg University, a post-graduate certificate in Public Management from Tias Business School, and a post-graduate certificate in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) from Beeckestijn Business School.

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Nick Hillman has been the Director of HEPI since January 2014. He worked for the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, now Lord Willetts, the 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.

He has written for a range of think tanks and journals. His more recent writings include articles on the Coalition’s higher education reforms for the Oxford Review of Education (2016), on access to schools and selective universities for Higher Education Review (2014) and on the fifty-year history of student loans for Contemporary British History (2013). He also wrote the authoritative account of being a special adviser for the Institute of Government (2014).

His recent pamphlets for HEPI include an assessment of the impact of students in the general election of 2015, a comparison of the UK and German higher education system, a piece on the educational underachievement of young men and a study on students’ attitudes to free speech.

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Professor Mammo Muchie holds a DPhil in Science, Technology, and Innovation for Development (STI&D) from the University of Sussex. UK. He is currently a DST/NRF rated Research Professor at the Faculty of Management Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. He is a fellow of the South African Academy of Sciences and the African Academy of Sciences. He is also currently adjunct Professor at the Adama Science, Technology University, Arsi University, Addis Ababa University and University of Gondar, Ethiopia. He has been senior research associate at the SPMTDC programme and also has become Senior Research Associate at the TMD Centre of Oxford University.

He is collaborating with researchers (DILIC) on the potential research areas of Africa-China industrial high-technology sectors. He has been invited as Associate Faculty professor at Sussex University, UK for the next three years; at the University of Economics in Prague as visiting professor, Jawarahal Nehru University India, Tonji and Shanghai University, China; Honorary Professor Jiaxing University, China, Assistant Professor Amsterdam University, Visiting Professor Carleton College, USA; Principal Lecturer, Middlesex University, Professor, Aalborg University; Part–time Lecturer, Cambridge University; Honorary Professor UNISA. Professor Mammo held various positions globally, including the Director of the Research Programme on Civil Society and African Integration at the then University of Kwa Zulu-Natal; board member at the North Western University, Chengdu, China.

He is currently the chairman of the advisory board of African Talent hub of the Community Interest Company (registration no.10461990) to raise funds for making Africa the talent, innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and knowledge hub of the world. He has been appointed as special distinguished advisor to the Africa Union’s Student Council and a mentor for the African Entrepreneurship award. He has initiated the African Unity for Renaissance and Knowledge Exchange series of conferences since the last six years. He is a founding scientific advisor to ´the African Solar network, founding chairman of the Network of Ethiopian scholars. He has lead the SIDA, Sweden funded research on engineering design and on transformative innovation for African integrated development and educate on public media to speed up the creation of innovative and renascent Africa. He is also a co-founding member of the Nano Technology Institute in TUT leading the innovation side of the research.

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Richard Everitt is Director Education, British Council India, responsible for the strategic direction of the education portfolio. Richard studied at the University of Leeds, the University of South Florida and the John’s Hopkins University (School of Advanced International Studies). Richard is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and The Norwich Society and given the 2012 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Institute of International Education. He is Chair of the International Education Research Consortium.

Other British Council postings include: USA as Deputy Director; China -managing the HSBC funded UK-China School Links Programme; Colombia, heading arts, education, governance, and creative industries projects and Poland – responsible for a European sports education programme. Richard previously worked at Channel 5 Television, London and as a teacher of English in Uganda.

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Nabil Sultan is Professor and Dean of the College of Business Administration at A’Sharqiyah University, Ibra, Oman. Prior to that he was Professor of Innovation Management and Leadership (a Personal Chair from the University of Essex) and Head of Division of Management, Business and Enterprise at University Campus Suffolk (UCS) which is jointly owned by two leading British Universities: University of East Anglia and the University of Essex.  He is internationally recognised for his publications in the fields of information management, knowledge management, leadership cloud computing, renewable energy and Arab Gulf’s socio–economic affairs.  He is UK-educated and has 28 years of work experience, 17 years of which were in British higher education.  He has developed strong skills in undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum development, accreditation, research and developing people’s skills and careers and widening community participation.  He has extensive  knowledge of the Middle East (especially the Arabian peninsula and Gulf region) gained through experience and research and demonstrated through journal and book writings.

During his tenure at UCS, Professor Sultan was responsible for the leadership and management of this division including staff, budget, development of curriculum, enterprise, the delivery of recruitment and retention targets and quality standards and the development of relevant networks within and beyond the university.  He was also Director of Research and PhD Provision where he was responsible for promoting the Business School’s multi-disciplinary research in the areas of management, business and enterprise and the vetting of prospective PhD students.  Moreover, he was Director (and founder) of the Middle East Research Centre (MERC) and Editor-in-Chief (and founder) of the peer-reviewed journal “Review of Management and Enterprise Studies” (REAMS).

Professor Sultan is also a Visiting Professor at the Servant-Leadership Centre for Research and Education at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Vrije Universiteit is one of Europe’s prestigious universities and is ranked 136th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2014/15.  Since 1999 and up to 2012 Professor Sultan worked for Liverpool Hope University and was Award Director of its International MBA.  During that tenure, he was awarded the Rector’s High Commendation for Teaching Excellence Award (2009) and Hope Business School’s Research Excellence Award (2010 – 2011).

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Full Professor of the Faculty of Education, at the University of Zaragoza. She is a permanent researcher of the UNESCO Chair on Values ​​and Communication, Director of the first Juan de Lanuza Educational Innovation Chair at her university, and is Director of the Consolidated Research Group Coaching and entrepreneurship for the personal and professional development of the Government of Aragon (code 262121/1).

She is participating in two R&D projects with the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as in a European project. She directs the Master’s Degree in Social-Emotional Education for personal and professional development and the University Master’s Degree in Lifelong Learning: Initiation to Research at the Faculty of Education, both from the University of Zaragoza.

She also has the academic direction of the Integral Model of Educational Coaching in expansion in Aragón, Spain and Europe. She is an Education Expert in the European Union. She is a founding partner of the Coaching Education Education Association, and currently President. She is a personal and executive coach (CA172 by AECOP) and systemic teams (by ICF). 

She won the prize for Educational Innovation from the Social Council of the University of Zaragoza in 2012 and on the use of innovative technologies in training 2016.

She has been shortlisted as one of the top ten teachers in Spain in 2017, the only one from Zaragoza to gain this accolade.

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Robert Carthy is BUILA’s Lead for Regional Interest Groups and Training. He is also Director of the International Development Service at Northumbria University. He leads a team of over 80 staff based in six locations across the globe, working on the recruitment and admissions of International Students, development of International Partnerships, and student mobility. In addition he has oversight of the University’s Language Centre, delivering in-session and pre-sessional English, as well as credit-bearing modern Foreign languages.

Rob joined Northumbria University in 2003 and moved to the International Office in 2005. He has held various roles in the team since then, including Partnerships Manager and Deputy Director, and took over as the Director of International Development in November 2013. He has held executive roles on BUTEX, the UK-Saudi Interest Group, and has worked closely with the BUILA senior team. He was elected onto the BUILA executive in 2016.

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Supriyo Chaudhuri has extensive experience of Global Education, managing projects, leading businesses and developing and supporting partner networks. With an in-depth understanding of the Higher and Professional Education sectors, deep knowledge of Education Technology and global experience in Education Marketing, he has worked with some of the world’s foremost Education and Skills Training companies with distinction and success. He was until recently, the Director for Asia Engagement for Knod Education, a US venture-funded innovative skills company. He is now Senior Manager in Education for EPG.

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Throughout her career, Dr Mary Stiasny has worked tirelessly to both deliver and promote quality accessible education across the world.

Prior to becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor (International), Dr Stiasny provided strategic direction and leadership at the Institute of Education, in her capacity as Pro-Director with responsibility for Learning, Teaching and International.

Working life for Dr Stiasny began as a secondary school teacher in West London. She then joined Goldsmiths College, where she was involved in initial teacher education, becoming Director of PGCE and Deputy Head of the Department of Educational Studies. This was followed by a move to Oxford Brookes University, where she was appointed Deputy Head of the School of Education. She then returned to London, to become Head of the School of Education and Training at the University of Greenwich. Following this, she spent four years at the British Council as Director of Education and Training before joining the Institute of Education.

Dr Stiasny’s practical and strategic experience in education spans across a wide range of roles, including providing consultancy for a number of educational projects that have attracted external funding, and as an external examiner.

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Managing Director for boutique economic consulting firm EPG, specialising in economic analysis, strategic communications and market entry assistance with India, with offices in London, Bangalore and East Africa.

He was additionally, until August 2017, UK Director for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the premier and largest industry body in India. He is also the co-founder of a tech start-up in the CSR space. Previously he worked in Economic Consulting at FTI Consulting and Deloitte in London and Abu Dhabi, with a focus on public policy and arbitration. He was Chairman for a not-for-profit membership organisation with several thousand members for three years.

He studied Economics at Warwick University, where he was awarded the Prize for Excellence, and LMU University of Munich. His dissertation won a prize at an international economics conference at Georgetown University, Washington DC. He has published academic research on behavioural economics and social impact and is a regular commentator on public policy and India across print, TV and online media, featured on BBC News, CBC, CNBC, CNN, NDTV, South China Morning Post and Huffington Post.

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Sakate Khaitan is the senior partner at Khaitan Legal Associates. Sakate divides his time between London and Mumbai.

Sakate Khaitan heads the corporate M&A, funds, restructuring and insurance practice at Khaitan Legal Associates. Sakate advises clients on inward investments into India and on an array of India-focused cross border transactions. Having started his career in litigation, Sakate has over 11 years of litigation experience advising various clients in their disputes that included high profile joint venture disputes, tax disputes and disputes with regulators. Sakate also serves on the boards of several companies as a non-executive director, lending his legal and business acumen to businesses around the globe. Sakate assists clients with pragmatic and commercially sound advice on dealing with Indian rules and regulations. His clients include multinationals, private equity funds, financial institutions, fund managers, and HNIs.

In his experience that spans over two decades Sakate Khaitan demonstrates a deep commercial understanding of several industry sectors and significant transactional insights that offer immense value to the client.

Sakate Khaitan is the alumnus of London Business School (“LBS”) and is also the co-founder of the India Business Forum (“IBF”) at LBS. The IBF is a platform that was created to build awareness and facilitate discussions on and encourage cross border investments to/from India.

Sakate Khaitan is dual qualified and is a member of the Bar Council of India and is also admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. However, he exclusively practices Indian law.

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