Members of the Board of Governors

Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer (ex officio)

• Professor Jane Harrington

Independent Governors (up to 12)

• Mark Preston (Chair of the Board of Governors)
• Surinder Birdi
• Simon Cook
• Margaret Devlin
• Julie Kelly
• Kim Lowe
• Craig McWilliam (Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors)
• Daniel Mensah
• Murray Orr
• Julia Porter
• Stuart Sweeney

See the profiles of our Independent Governors below for further information about them.

Staff Governors (2)

Two Staff Governors (one from the University of Greenwich academic division and one from the University of Kent academic division) appointed following a competitive selection process – recruitment underway.

Student Governors (2)

Two Student Governors, one from the University of Greenwich academic division and one from the University of Kent academic division. In 2026/27, the Student Governors are the following student officers of LASE University Group Students’ Union:

• Aamina Azim (Greenwich). Aamina was elected in 2026 as President of Greenwich Students’ Union in 2026/27.
• TBC (Kent)

LASE Independent Governors

The following individuals have been appointed to LASE’s Board of Governors as Independent Governors. Independent Governors are appointed from outside the University Group for their skills and expertise.

Mark Preston (Chair of the Board of Governors)

Mark Preston was Chair of the University of Kent’s Council from 2023 until 2026 and was appointed Chair of LASE’s Board of Governors in 2026.

Mark graduated from the then University of Kent at Canterbury (Keynes College) in 1983 with a BA (Hons) in Accountancy and Economics.  He then joined Barclays Bank on a graduate training scheme and after that spent much of his career with various North American banks in senior investment banking positions.  Over the last ten years he has performed various corporate workouts whilst taking on non-executive director positions in the mutual and private equity sectors, currently  serving as  Chair of a building society.

As Chair, Mark serves on the following Board of Governors committees: Finance & Estates Committee, People and Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee and Honorary Degrees Committee.

Surinder Birdi

Senior HR Director, Manufacturing & Employee Relations, Ford Britain. Surinder has held various senior HR and business partner roles for the Ford Motor Company Ltd and Ford Credit Europe Bank plc covering UK and European operations since 2001.

In his earlier career, he worked in government and the public sector, including the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Parliamentary Ombudsman's Office with responsibilities covering business development, a range of strategic and policy areas including race equality and diversity, and the investigation of complaints made by the public against public departments.

Surinder holds non-executive Board appointments as Chair of the Appointments Board of the Nursing & Midwifery Council and Board Member of the Kingston & Richmond NHS Foundation Trust and Ford Halewood Transmissions Ltd. Surinder joined the University of Greenwich’s Governing Body in 2025 and was appointed to LASE University Group’s Board of Governors in 2026.

Surinder is a member of the Board of Governors’ Audit and Risk Committee and the People and Nominations Committee.

Simon Cook

Principal & Chief Executive, Mid-Kent College, since 2016; previously Vice-Principal and Interim Principal leading on curriculum and quality from 2013.  Before that time, Simon held senior leadership roles with responsibility for the strategic direction and delivery of the curriculum at Cornwall College and Somerset College.  His earlier career in the hospitality and catering industry, travel, tourism and retail in hotels in London, Germany and South Africa laid the foundation for later lecturing and management roles at Aylesbury College and Bournemouth & Poole College in hospitality, catering, travel, tourism and retail and to qualification as an OFSTED Additional Inspector in hospitality, catering and retail.

Simon holds various trustee and non-executive appointments including the Royal Engineers Vocational Training Trust, the Kent & Medway Economic Partnership and Future Schools Trust, and is Chair of Kent Further Education and Medway Places Board. Simon joined the University of Greenwich’s Governing Body in 2025 and was appointed to LASE University Group’s Board of Governors in 2026.

Simon is a member of the Board of Governors’ Finance and Estates Committee.

Margaret Devlin

Margaret Devlin is an experienced independent chair/non-executive director and trustee with over 20 years’ experience operating at board level across regulated, asset-intensive and public interest sectors including water, energy, education, transport and digital infrastructure. Her current roles include Advisor to the Council for the Independent Scrutiny of Heathrow Airport, member of Bolney Parish Council (West Sussex), member of Mutual Energy Northern Ireland and Strategic Subgroup Member of the Heathrow Passenger Forum. Her experience includes numerous board roles in New Zealand and the UK, including chair of Watercare Services Ltd, New Zealand (2016-2024), Chair, Hospice Waikato, New Zealand (2019–2024), Council member of Waikato University, New Zealand (2017-2021) and Managing Director, South-East Water (UK), 1999–2006. Margaret joined LASE University Group's Board of Governors in 2026.

Margaret is a member of the Board of Governors’ Audit and Risk Committee.

Julie Kelly

Julie is a non-executive director and higher education consultant with extensive experience of academic administration and governance from her time at the University of Hertfordshire and the Open University, from where she holds an MBA.  She was an Executive member of the Academic Registrars Council, chairing the Admissions Practitioner Group and a member of UCAS Council. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She also has 20 years’ experience from the financial services sector. Julie served on the University of Kent’s Council from 2024 until 2026, including as its Senior Independent Governor, and was appointed to LASE University Group’s Board of Governors in 2026.

Julie is a member of the Board of Governors’ Audit and Risk Committee and is chair of the Remuneration Committee. She is also the Senior Independent Governor.

Kim Lowe

Kim Lowe spent most of her career at John Lewis Partnership and for more than 37 years she has worked across people, customer service, employee engagement, human resources and business.

She progressed through various operational and general management leadership roles, being appointed Managing Director of John Lewis Bluewater in 2014. In 2007, she was appointed to the JLP Board of Directors and also as a member of the Audit and Risk, Nominations and Remuneration committees.

Her final role was to lead the pension review at John Lewis before leaving in 2020 to continue to build her portfolio non-executive director career in the public and private sector, including John Lewis Partnership, Central Surrey Health, Kent and Medway Mental Health Trust and Kent Community  NHS Trust, as well as a council lay member at the University of Kent and joint trust chair of a school’s academy trust in Medway.

Kim is passionate about employee engagement; she truly believe it lies at the heart of a successful enterprise. An empowered workforce delivers better service and a happier working environment for all. Prior to joining LASE University Group's Board of Governors in 2026, Kim served on the University of Kent's Council from 2018 until 2024, rejoining again in 2025.

Kim is chair of the Board of Governors’ People and Nominations Committee and is a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Craig McWilliam (Vice-Chair)

Craig is Chief Executive of The Arch Company and was Programme Director, New Hospital Programme and NHS Capacity Delivery Director, NHS England from 2020 until 2021. He was previously Chief Executive Officer, Grosvenor, Britain & Ireland (a privately owned global property business) from 2010 until 2020 and Managing Director, Fortress Investment Group (a listed US private equity business) 1999-2010.

Craig joined the University of Greenwich's Governing Body in 2017 and served as Chair from 2024 until 2026. He was appointed Vice-Chair of LASE University Group's Board of Governors in 2026.

Craig is a member of the Board of Governors’ Finance and Estates Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Honorary Degrees Committee.

Daniel Mensah

Daniel Mensah is Internal Audit Director at Bauer Media Group, where he leads a diverse portfolio of audit, advisory and risk assessment activity across the organisation. His work spans operational, financial, IT, compliance, cultural, equality, diversity & inclusion, and sustainability domains, giving him broad insight into organisational governance and performance.

Before joining Bauer Media Group, Daniel spent three years at PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Dan also holds a range of non-executive and governance appointments across the housing, higher education and sporting sectors. He is a Non-Executive Director at Innisfree Housing Association and the British Equestrian Federation, and serves as an external member of the Audit and Risk Committee at the Rugby Football League.

He is a graduate of the University of Manchester, where he completed a BA (Hons) in Finance followed by a Master’s degree in Social Research Methods and Statistics.

Outside of work, Dan is a keen sports enthusiast, playing tennis and cycling regularly. He also volunteers as part of his son’s Sunday League football team. Prior to joining LASE University Group's Board of Governors in 2026, Dan served on the University of Kent's Council in 2025/26.

Dan is chair of the Board of Governors’ Audit and Risk Committee and is a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Murray Orr

An investment banker with 40 years' experience in the financial services sector, Murray was formerly Vice-Chair of M&A at JP Morgan, where he provided corporate finance advice to clients internationally across many sectors. He also has significant senior governance and board experience in the not-for-profit sector. He is currently Chair of Trinity College London, and previous board roles included the Royal Institute of British Architects and AQA Education.

Murray has an Economics and Accounting degree from Bristol University, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and completed the Duke Fuqua Business School Advanced Management Programme. He served on the University of Greenwich's Governing Body from 2016 until 2026, including roles as Vice-Chair and chair of the Finance Committee, and joined LASE University Group's Board of Governors in 2026.

Murray is chair of the Board of Governors’ Finance and Estates Committee and is a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Julia Porter

Julia is an experienced non-executive director and board committee chair with experience of listed, private equity, digital startup and not for profit organisations. Her current board roles include director and chair of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee, and chair of the Customer Scrutiny Panel, Sage Homes; director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Hollywood Bowl Group; and rtustee and Chair of the Fundraising Committee of Home Start in Suffolk. Previous roles include member of Board of Trustees and Chair of the Fundraising Committee of Worldwide Cancer Research (2018-2024); director and chair of the Remuneration Committee and Compliance Committee, Safestyle Plc; director and Chair of the Customer Service Committee, Origin Housing (2016-2022) and Chair and Board Director of the Direct Marketing Association (2011-2017). A Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing, her executive career included being Director of Consumer Revenues at Guardian News and Media (2012-2016) and roles at ITV plc (2006-2011), initially as Group Commercial Marketing Director and subsequently as Acting Group Marketing and Research Director. Julia was appointed top LASE University Group's Board of Governors in 2026.

Julia is a member of the Board of Governors’ Finance and Estates Committee.

Dr Stuart Sweeney

Stuart is an experienced senior executive, He has 28 years experience at leading investment banks and social investment asset managers. He rose to Managing Director, Head of European Debt Capital Markets (Corporate-Public Sector) at UBS. He holds a Doctorate in History from Oxford University with two books published, latterly at the Centre for Global History, Oxford. Stuart holds a Visiting Research Fellowship at Reading University, where he continues to publish.

He has a number of board positions across education and health. Stuart is Vice Chair of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Head of Finance and Audit and Trustee at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of The Royal College of Physicians of the UK, and non-executive director at Kingston Council's Special Educational Needs and Disability Board. He was previously a board member at the Enterprise Development Programme, Oxfam.

Prior to joining LASE University Group’s Board of Governors in 2026, Stuart was a member of the University of Greenwich’s Governing Body from 2023 until 2026. Stuart is a member of the Board of Governors’ Finance and Estates Committee.