Northumbria University, Newcastle, has
appointed three exciting new members to its Board of Governors. Professor
Dame Janet Beer, Alison Fellows and Jan Thompson took up their
appointments on 1 December 2023.
A former Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive
of both the University of Liverpool and Oxford Brookes University, Professor
Dame Janet Beer offers considerable experience within the higher education
sector. She was awarded a Damehood for services to higher education and
equality and diversity in the New Year’s Honours list 2017 and was formerly the
President of Universities UK. Dame Janet is also a Trustee of the British
Council, a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the National Leadership Advisory Board. She
has an established record of research and scholarship in late nineteenth and
early twentieth century American literature and culture.
Alison Fellows is a
senior executive with extensive public and private sector commercial
experience. Among her current roles, she is a Non-Executive Director with both
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust and housing association Gentoo Group
Sunderland. She has been a governor at Sunderland College and a trustee of
Tyneside Cinema. Alison is a former Commercial Director at Teesside
International Airport, Group Commercial Director for Tees Valley Combined
Authority and Director of Commercial Development with Sunderland City Council.
She is also a previous Partner and Head of the Commercial team with leading
North East law firm Dickinson Dees – now part of Womble Bond Dickinson.
Jan
Thompson is a senior executive in journalism, publishing and digital media. She
is Executive Managing Editor of Guardian News and Media where she has played a
key role in its digital first strategy over the past decade. She joined the
media group in 2005 as Managing Editor of the Observer, and before that was
Managing Editor of the Independent. She began her journalistic career on the
East Anglian Daily Times before moving to the Sheffield Morning Telegraph.
Commenting on the
appointments, Chair of the Board of Governors at Northumbria University,
Roberta Blackman-Woods, said: “Our three new members are highly accomplished
individuals, and their calibre and expertise will be greatly welcomed by an
already deeply knowledgeable Board. I look forward to working with them in our
role as Governors to support the University’s senior team in taking Northumbria
forward as an anchor institution in the region and a major player in the UK and
global higher education sector. As a
Board we work together to help deliver our
strategic goals as a research-intensive university with highly skilled
graduates and a clear social mobility mission to unlock potential for all.”
