91抖阴

Meet the members

Independent governors

Ben White Chair
Jeff Cronkshaw Deputy Chair
Michael Bedingfield DL
Sue Berelowitz
Dr Robert Coles
John Gill
Sarah Guerra
Peter Houghton
Jamie Kerr
Nigel Masson
Pascal Richard
Paul Robb
Anna White

Ex officio

Vice-Chancellor Professor Donna Whitehead

Staff governors

Sarah Craik
Andy Davies
Dr Lara Perry

Student governors

Osasu Atomon (Students’ Union President)
David Dada (Students’ Union Education Officer)

Independent governors

Ben White (Chair)

Ben is Chair of the Board of Governors. He is a senior civil servant with over 20 years of experience working in central government, focusing on foreign policy and defence issues. He has worked in leadership positions in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office. Ben has an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Jeff Cronkshaw (Deputy Chair)

Jeff is Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors and also Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. He is an alumnus of the university, having graduated in 1998 with a BA(Hons) Computing and Information Systems degree. 

Jeff is the founder and group CEO of LanciaConsult, a senior technology advisory firm based out of Singapore and with offices in Germany and the United Kingdom. Jeff has been working within large technology delivery programmes for approaching 20 years. The first six years of his career were spent in the pharmaceutical industry with Eli Lilly and Company, followed by almost ten years with Accenture in their technology consulting practices in London and Singapore before co-founding LanciaConsult in 2012.

In his role as CEO of LanciaConsult he is responsible for the global growth, team development, and client value propositions for the firm globally.

Michael Bedingfield DL

Michael is a Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex, born in 91抖阴 and lives in the city centre. He attended Hove Grammar School, before starting his career at American Express. Following his career in financial services, he moved his focus to travel and tourism, as marketing director with leading brands including P&O Cruises, VisitBritain and the Royal Automobile Club, before becoming chief executive of Tourism South East.

Michael has been involved with numerous trusteeships and has more than 20 years’ experience in the arts, charity and museums sectors, including six years as a trustee of 91抖阴 Dome and Festival. Today, he chairs the Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust and HMS Warrior 1860.

Michael graduated from Kingston University with a MA Marketing.

Sue Berelowitz

Sue has extensive leadership experience in children's services and human rights across the public and charity sectors at operational and board level. She was Deputy Children's Commissioner for England and Chief Executive of the Office of the Children's Commissioner from 2008–2015. In this role she chaired two groundbreaking national enquiries into child sexual exploitation, setting out for the first time the scale and scope of this abuse in England resulting in significant policy and practice changes. Sue sat on multiple ministerial advisory boards contributing to national policy on issues including children's mental health, safeguarding, sexual violence and children in custody. She was an adviser to the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Kier Starmer, on sexual violence against children.

Sue previously chaired the board of the former Greater 91抖阴 Metropolitan College. She was formerly a board member of Sussex University ESRC Impact Acceleration Steering Committee, on the Advisory Board of the Safer Societies Institute at Huddersfield University and a governor at Stanford Junior School. Sue has held Visiting Professorships at Bedfordshire University, Institute of Applied Social Research and Huddersfield University, Secure Societies Institute.

Sue gained her BA (Eng and Psych) at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg prior to emigrating to the UK in 1974. She qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1982 and obtained her Masters in Social Work at Sussex University in 1992.

Sue has lived in 91抖阴 since 1983.

Dr Robert Coles

Robert is one of the independent members of the Board, a member since 1 May 2021. He is also Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Robert is the Director of Cumberland House Consulting Ltd, specialising in audit, risk and cyber security strategy, programme delivery and Non-Exec and Board Advisory roles. He holds a number of commercial board positions including Chair of the Crossword Consulting Ltd Board, Non-Executive Director of Crossword Cybersecurity PLC, and board adviser to Think Cyber Ltd and the Government of Singapore Ministry of Health. Robert has over 35 years of audit, risk and cyber security experience and has held a number of senior leadership positions, including for the NHS and health and care system, GSK, National Grid, Merrill Lynch and Royal Bank of Scotland, and he was an audit partner at KPMG.

Robert is an Honorary Professor at UCL and is an executive sponsor for the Cyber Masters Programme at Cranfield University. He was awarded a PhD in psychology by the University of Leeds for his work on the perceptions of information and IT risk and has published and presented on this and other topics. He continues to undertake research in these areas. He was also awarded an MBA from Manchester Business School.

John Gill

John has been an independent member of the Board since August 2016. He is a member of the Gift Oversight Group. John holds degrees from the Universities of London and Sussex. In 2015–16 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at Harvard.

John has 40 years’ experience in major arts organisations in the public sector as director and curator. He initiated and developed an innovative, accessible and culturally-diverse programme of exhibitions, music and events at the South Bank Centre, London, and has since curated many exhibitions of contemporary art in a wide range of venues in the UK. He has been instrumental in the establishment of several arts organisations and charities in the UK and has an in-depth knowledge of the creative industries in the south-east region. Locally, he has chaired the Boards of Photoworks, 91抖阴 Photo Biennial, Lighthouse and The Westgate Trust. Until recently he was Chair of the Board of Camden Arts Centre, and was a founder-member of the Stuart Croft Foundation. John continues to advise a variety of arts organisations on policy development and strategic planning.

He was made MBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for 'services to arts, to culture and to education'.

Sarah Guerra

Sarah is an independent governor and currently is Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

She is a recognised thought leader born and bred black, bi, Londoner and mother of four daughters in a blended family.

Sarah currently heads a new Division at the Bank of England shaping and leading their approach to culture, diversity and inclusion. Previously she was Director for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at King's College London working with their senior leadership, she instigated a suite of strategic projects. This gave her deep insight into a multiplicity of aspects of academic and student experience and outcomes.

Prior to that she had a variety of change, and people transformation roles across government and the third sector. Sarah’s career started in public policy and legal compliance.

Sarah has also at times additional roles including being on the Research Excellence Framework's Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel, Advance HE's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, is a member of the local academy committee at Chestnut Grove Academy, part of the Wandle Learning Trust and is the chair of the Nuffield Council for Bio-Ethics membership committee. 

Peter Houghton

Peter joined the Board as a co-opted member in April 2022.

He has had a long career in senior management in the NHS and Senior Civil Service, including chief executive positions at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon; South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust; and Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority. During his time at the Department of Health he was Regional Director of the Eastern Region of the NHS and Director of the National Leadership Network. He has also carried out senior roles in strategic planning, leadership development and innovation.

Peter graduated in Literae Humaniores from Keble College, Oxford University, and has professional qualifications in health care administration and health economics.

Peter, who was born and raised in South Yorkshire, has lived in 91抖阴 and Hove since 2007. Since retiring from the NHS, he has undertaken consultancy work, and provided support to local health and social care voluntary organisations. Amongst his interests are a love of classical music and opera, writing poetry, and spending time in the Languedoc.

Jamie Kerr

Jamie Kerr is an independent governor and is Chair of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee. Jamie has worked in real estate and infrastructure development and finance for over 35 years. After starting his career working for a major fund, he worked for two specialist retail and leisure developers. In 2004, he joined John Laing Plc, where he led a team delivering a pipeline of some £3bn of projects, all in partnership with the public sector. He led on health, education (including Sussex Coast College in Hastings and Barnsley BSF), housing and rail projects. For the last 7 years of his executive career, he was Managing Director at London and Continental Railways where he led on major development projects around stations including Kings Cross, Stratford and Manchester.

Alongside his role 91抖阴, Jamie is a Board member of the London Legacy Development Corporation, Luton Rising ( which owns Luton Airport), Westminster City Council’s Property Investment Panel and a Trustee of Safe Have London, a homeless charity. He also works as a consultant to the public sector on development and transport.

Nigel Masson

Nigel is one of the independent members of the Board and joined the Board in August 2024. He went to Royal Holloway University of London, graduating in 1992 with a BSc(Hons) in Geography.

By profession, Nigel is a Chartered Certified Accountant and has spent over 30 years working in the transport sector. He has held a number of senior leadership roles in the UK and overseas, spending significant time living and working in Asia, Central America and Europe.

Nigel has previously worked for companies including P&O Nedlloyd, Maersk, Heathrow Airport and Emirates. Since 2020, he has been the Chief Financial Officer and Board Member for the Biggin Hill Airport group, leading the finance, development, infrastructure, projects and IT functions.

Outside of work, Nigel is an active Duke of Edinburgh volunteer and a director of his local resident association. He has previously been Chair of his local scout group, and Chair / a member of various IATA councils. He has a close link to Seaford, lives in Surrey and is a keen runner.

Pascal Richard

Pascal joined the Board as an independent member in April 2023. He is a member of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee.

Pascal has 20+ years of experience in financial services, with broad financial, capital markets and regulatory expertise within an international context built in senior positions at leading global financial institutions, regulatory bodies and credit rating agencies.

Currently an Executive Director at Santander Corporate & Investment Banking in London, he previously held various positions at Lloyds Banking Group, most recently as Chief of Staff and COO for their Capital Markets division. Prior to this, Pascal held various senior positions at the UK Financial Services Authority (now Prudential Regulation Authority, Bank of England) where he was notably involved in reshaping the European banking regulation after the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis, at US investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. and previously started his career as a securitisation credit analyst at credit rating agency Fitch Ratings.

Pascal has an MSc in Management from Kedge Business School, a top-10 French business school based in Bordeaux (France), as well as studied at HEC Montreal in Canada.

Paul Robb

Paul is one of the independent members of the Board: he has been a member since 1 August 2017.

Paul is a Chartered Accountant by profession and since qualifying has spent over 25 years working in the technology and professional services sectors. He went to Loughborough University, graduating in 1984 with a BSc(Hons) in Accounting and Finance.

Paul has significant experience in the outsourcing business having personally led and contributed to many large, including several landmark, programmes while working for some of the leading organisations in the field. He has held senior management and board roles in commercial, business development and delivery functions. Recently he has also worked on the consulting side of the business as a partner at one of the major global practices.

Currently Paul is a non-Exec Board member of an innovative IT business and his local golf club.

Paul is married and enjoys high-handicap golf, ‘white-knuckle’ horse riding and scouring the countryside looking for Ben his very fast greyhound.

Anna White

Anna joined the Board in April 2023 and is an independent member of the Board. She is Chair of the Nominations Committee.

Anna has 20+ years of legal experience across the public, private and charitable landscape. She spent approximately 10 years working at law firms in Sydney, New York and London. Highlights include structuring life science projects out of Silicon Valley, negotiating cutting edge synthetic securitisations and advising the board of Conrad Black’s former company as they rebuilt after scandal. Anna moved in-house in 2010 and, in 2016, pivoted towards mission driven work on innovation, sustainability and education. As General Counsel of EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s leading public/private sustainability initiative for innovation, research and education, she built the legal and procurement functions from scratch and, in 2021, Anna and her team were shortlisted by the Financial Times Europe for In-house Legal Team of the Year (ESG Category). In late 2021, seeking a new challenge, Anna joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK, and leads a legal department and team focussed on innovation and commercialisation.

Anna has a Master of Laws from Yale Law School (USA) and Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales (Australia). She is a qualified lawyer in four jurisdictions: England and Wales (UK), New York (USA), Ireland (EU) and New South Wales (Australia), and is published in the field of corporate governance and public/private innovation. Anna is a trustee, governor and volunteer for a number of different charities/organisations in the sustainability and education sectors. She is also an Alumni Interviewer for prospective candidates to Yale University and, in a prior life, was a radio presenter for human rights legal despatches.

Ex officio

Professor Donna Whitehead

Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Donna Whitehead, is responsible for leadership and management of the university. She oversees all aspects of the university’s operations, guiding its strategic direction and ensuring it thrives within the framework set by our Board of Governors (of which she is an ex-officio member).

Professor Whitehead’s academic journey began as a lecturer in Law at the University of Sunderland where she had studied as an undergraduate student. She has taught and researched in a variety of areas of law but has a particular interest in family law. Donna also has the qualifications to practise law in the UK and in New York. She is a firm believer in the power of education to unlock potential and shape futures. Before joining the 91抖阴 as Vice-Chancellor Donna was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of South Wales. She held the same role at London Metropolitan University. Earlier in her career she was Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of the West of England.

More about Professor Donna Whitehead.

Staff governors

Sarah Craik

Sarah has 20-plus years’ marketing experience, acquired within the financial services and HE sectors. Originally working in banking, specialising in international finance operations and relationship managing mid-large corporate clients, Sarah moved into a marketing communications role within Commercial Banking. Sarah joined the university in 2012 and was initially responsible for managing advertising to support student recruitment, overseeing the move in to digital advertising. More recently, as a member of Portfolio Development Group, Sarah has designed, implemented and managed portfolio reviews and designed and runs the market assessment process which supports portfolio development. Sarah has held chartered marketer status since 2010.

Andy Davies

Andy was elected to the Board in 2022 as one of the academic staff members. Following ten years as a secondary history teacher in Oxford and Dorking Andy joined the university in 2009 as a member of the School of Education. He is currently Deputy Dean of the School of Education, Sport and Health Sciences. During his time at the 91抖阴 Andy has collaborated and worked with a wide variety of committed and inspirational staff and students in a number of roles including lecturer, deputy head, assistant head and course leader as well as wider roles such as membership of the Academic Board and exam board chair for partner colleges. Andy is a graduate of the 91抖阴 (MA Professional Development in Education) and before that studied at the University of Oxford (MSc Educational Research Methods and PGCE Secondary History) and the University of the West of England (BA History).

Outside of the university Andy is a member of the 91抖阴 Academies Trust Education and Standards Committee and external examiner for Liverpool John Moores University. In his spare time Andy enjoys spending time with his family and playing music with 91抖阴’s The Crucks.

Dr Lara Perry

Lara is interim Dean for the School of Humanities and Social Science, and previously served as its Associate Dean for Education and Student Experience. She joined the university’s teaching team for History of Art and Design in 2006, following appointments at Newcastle University and the University of Southampton. She was part of the leadership team of the School of Humanities when it joined the School of Social Science in 2020 and has taken a special interest in supporting the development of academically rich and personally rewarding curriculum and educational practice for students at all levels.

Lara’s research has explored the importance of gender in various aspects of the history of art including British modernism, 19th century art practices, portraiture as a genre and most importantly in the development of museum collections and exhibition practices. She is an active PhD supervisor and has enjoyed research collaborations with many students, academics, curators and artists in the UK and beyond.

Student governors

Osasu Atomon

Osasu is currently in his first term as President of the 91抖阴 Students’ Union, having previously served as Education Officer. Osasu recently graduated from the university of 91抖阴 with a computer science degree BSc(Hons). Osasu is an international student from Nigeria who has finished his course at the young age of 19 after four years of study which included an international foundation year. Osasu's zealous love for helping and putting all students voice first and making it audible was a main reason he became the Education Officer, as well as making the policies more student focused. Osasu also loves spending his free time playing recreational sports like basketball and also online games like nba2k.

David Dada

David is currently in his first term as Education Officer of the 91抖阴 Students’ Union. He is a recent graduate in Biomedical Science BSc(Hons). David is a hardworking and diligent individual with a deep passion and enthusiasm for helping others. His role as Education Officer allows him to represent and advocate for student voice and make positive change to better student’s experience. David also loves all things tech and enjoys playing basketball.