THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CIVIC UNIVERSITY

NETWORK IN PLACE BASED STRATEGY

Thursday 20 May

Richard is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Sheffield Hallam, moving from his previous role as Director General for Strategy and Resources at the Department for Education. Richard has over 30 years’ of experience both in Whitehall and internationally, covering senior policy, programme and operational roles. Richard leads the civic agenda at Sheffield Hallam and was instrumental in establishing the South Yorkshire Futures programme in 2017.

Dame Nancy is President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester. Her ongoing research in the field of neuroscience has contributed towards major advances in the understanding and treatment of brain damage in stroke and head injury. She joined the Victoria University of Manchester in 1987, became Professor of Physiology in 1994 and held a Medical Research Council Research Chair from 1998 to 2010. Concurrent with her Faculty posts she has also held University roles as Vice-President for Research (2004–2007) and as Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (2007–2010).

Research England is led by David Sweeney, the Executive Chair. David chairs the Research England Council and provides leadership and oversight of Research England’s strategy and functions.

Previously Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), David was appointed as Executive Chair designate of Research England in early 2017, and took a lead role in shaping the new Council and leading the transition of responsibilities from HEFCE into Research England.

Omar is Director of TASO, and will lead its transition into an independent charity, developing its team and strategy to widen participation in higher education and eliminate equality gaps between students.

Omar joined TASO from race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust, where he had been Director since 2014. As Director of the Runnymede Trust, Omar grew the organisation and increased its profile. Prior to this, Omar was Head of Policy at the Runnymede Trust and led its financial inclusion programme.

Omar holds several advisory positions, including chair of Olmec, chair of the Ethnicity Strand Advisory Group to Understanding Society, chair of the advisory group of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester, Commissioner on the Financial Inclusion Commission and a member of the 2021 REF and 2014 REF assessment. Omar was previously a Governor at the University of East London and a 2012 Clore Social Leadership Fellow.

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 focussed on life histories, social mobility, higher education 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. Since joining Lincoln she has established and grown the first new Engineering School to be created in the UK for more than 20 years (in collaboration with Siemens plc) and successfully led the development of Science provision at Lincoln (including the Schools of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Physics and Mathematics).

Passionate about the student experience, Mary seeks to continually drive change and improvements in the partnership with students and the academic community, working closely with the Students’ Union at Lincoln.