Board of Governors

Quintin has been the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University since 2011. His responsibilities include the day-to-day running of the institution, the delivery of strategic and operational plans, performance, its internal structure and organisation, and its interface with external bodies and agencies.

In 2015 he was elected as a Board member of Universities UK (UUK), and in 2020 was elected as UUK Vice-President (England and Northern Ireland). In 2021, he was elected as a Board member of Advance HE. He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2011 for services to science.

Chair of the Board of Governors, Dr Lynn Drummond has had a distinguished career in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors. She spent 16 years as a Managing Director within Investment Banking for Rothschild. Prior to Rothschild, Lynn worked in the Cabinet Office in London as Private Secretary to the Chief Scientific Advisor.

Lynn is currently a non-Executive Director and is Chair designate at Zotefoams plc and also works as a Board Mentor for Criticaleye. She has held additional non-Executive Directorships at Venture Life Group plc; RPC Group plc; Infirst Healthcare; Shield Holdings AG; Allocate Software plc; Consort Medical plc; and Alimentary Health Ireland. Lynn has also been Chairman of Trustees for Breast Cancer Haven, and was on the University of Cambridge, Centre for Science and Policy Development Group.

Lynn holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of Glasgow and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of London. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Dr. Amin (MBBS, FFPM, MRCGP, DCPSA, DCH, DRCOG, DGM) is currently a non-Executive Director on the Board of Lineage Cell Therapeutics and Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Previously, she was Chief Compliance Officer at Quintiles Transnational.

Over the last 30 years, she has held positions of operational and strategic responsibility within Pharmaceutical Services at the C-suite and Board level. Her broad experience covers Clinical Pharmacology, ethical issues in clinical research, drug development, ethics and compliance programmes as well as leadership and management of large, multi-functional, multi-geography, global groups to deliver value-added growth and achieving business turnarounds. Dr Amin is also an Honorary Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology at Guy’s, King’s, and St. Thomas’ Hospitals, Medical, and Dental Schools.

Previously, she served on the Boards of Cambridge Innovation Capital and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians; on the Innovation Board and Medical Expert Network of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry; on a Department of Health Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee; on the Emerging Science and Bioethics Advisory Committee of the Department of Health; and on the Board of Governors of Heathfield School for Girls (The Girls’ Day School Trust).

An alumnus of Herts who was additionally recognised with an Honorary Doctorate in 2012, David Sproul is the Chair of Starling Bank, having also worked at Deloitte for nearly 20 years as Senior Partner and CEO. David has significant experience working with clients across many business sectors including consumer business, business services, private equity, and real estate, advising on strategic change issues encompassing globalisation of business models, digital and tech disruption, leadership and culture.

As a champion of talent development, David ensured that Deloitte provided student placements, graduate and undergraduate schemes, and programmes through the University of Hertfordshire’s own Careers and Employment and Enterprise Service teams. He has a track record of championing inclusive and diverse culture, increasing representation of women in senior ranks (recognised with a UN Women Empowerment CEO Leadership award in 2016) and increasing role models across all dimensions of diversity. He has also initiated programmes to embed responsible business, such as through schemes like Deloitte’s One Million Futures which has provided opportunities and support for less advantaged people in the UK.

David holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accountancy from Herts, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and a Fellow of the Institute of Taxation.

Dr Janet Bohrer has been the Chief Executive for the British Accreditation Council (BAC) since October 2019, which provides accreditation for hundreds of colleges and training providers both in the UK and overseas.

Between 2015 and 2019, Janet worked at London South Bank University as the Director of Teaching, Quality and Enhancement. In her role, she managed the four teams responsible for quality and teaching enhancement, including digitally enhanced learning and examinations and conferment.

Before that, between 2003 and 2015, she was an Assistant Director, Standards, Quality and Enhancement at the Quality Assurance Agency for higher education. She was part of the team that developed and maintained the UK Quality Code, managed higher education reviews, and undertook business development work organising and delivering programmes about quality assurance and enhancement with international delegates. Janet continued to facilitate the International Quality Assurance Programme for QAA on an annual basis until 2019.

Janet has also worked at London Metropolitan University and Sheffield Hallam University respectively, and has further experience of university partnerships from being a Trustee of the Council for Validating Universities (CVU).

Janet is Herts alumna, gaining an MSc in Occupational Psychology in 1997.

Bob is Chair of Hightown Housing Association, and of ACS International Schools.

He started his career as a Geologist before training as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young. He was Chief Executive at National Car Parks Ltd and has had various senior finance roles at Homebase and J Sainsbury. He also previously held non-executive roles with NEL Commissioning Support Unit and Broadview Energy.

Bob has extensive interests in commercial property in the UK and Ireland.

Raj (B.Tech., MBA, PGDCM, FCMI, FIoD, Chartered Director) is a Chartered Director and CEO of Innotatio Limited, a boutique strategy and digital transformation consultancy; he also sits on the supervisory board of Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership. He is a member of the Justice and Emergency Services Committee; the UK India Tech Forum of techUK; and is an advisor to the National Police Chiefs’ Council as well as a $5 billion private equity group.

Raj is an accomplished leader in strategy and digital transformation space and has over 38 years of international experience covering several continents. He was Vice President - Sales and Consulting at Intentia South Asia, and then joined Oracle to head their financial services industry solutions unit for Asia Pacific region. Later, he led the public sector business of HCL Technologies in Europe, in addition to heading its global business unit of criminal justice and public safety. In 2012, he founded Innotatio Limited.

Raj has an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology; a M.B.A from Mumbai University; and a post graduate diploma in construction management. He is also a fellow of Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Directors.

Lesley CBE is a non-Executive Director of the National Bank of Kuwait International plc., and of Pay.UK. She is also a board member and trustee at StepChange, the debt advice charity.

She qualified as a Chartered Accountant and has held various roles in financial services regulation. From 2015 to 2019, she was Chief Executive of The Pensions Regulator and, before that, was Chief Operating Officer of the Financial Conduct Authority.

Lesley read Classics at St Anne’s College, Oxford, and was awarded a CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to pensions regulation.

Karen is a chartered accountant who worked in audit practice at Deloitte, having held Finance and Procurement management positions in the retail sector between 1989 and 2003.

She has been a magistrate since 2004 and is Chair of the North and East Hertfordshire bench. She is also a member of both the Hertfordshire Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panel and the Hertfordshire Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel.

She has held several non-Executive and Chair positions in Public Services in education, health, and justice sectors, including the Hertfordshire Probation Trust as well as six non-Executive roles within the NHS. Most recently, she was Deputy Chair for the NHS North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group until June 2022.

Her other current positions include being a Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire; Chair of Governors / Trustees at The Broxbourne School; and Chair of Governors at Wormley C of E Primary School (VC).

She has a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Warwick.

Dr Lionel is an Aeronautical Engineer by profession, working initially for De Havilland/Hawker Siddeley Aircraft and successor companies, specialising in Airworthiness and Certification. He is currently working on the design and certification of eVTOL (Electrical Vertical Take-Off and Landing) and other future electric aircraft. He has also held various Senior Executive positions throughout his career.

With a keen interest in the justice system, he currently sits on the Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panel of the Crown Prosecution Service. Dr Lionel is also passionate about serving young people in the community; he is involved in various charity and community organisations, including The Prince’s Trust, UK Youth, Hertfordshire Association for Young People, London Community Gospel Choir.

He was appointed by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to serve as High Sheriff of Hertfordshire for the year 2021/22, and has been Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire for over 14 years.

Dr Lionel is a Herts alumnus in Law LLB (2014), and became a Governor at Herts in September 2022.

Dr. Walmsley is the Senior Independent Director at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT); is a trustee of Accumulate, a youth homelessness charity; and an active investor in start-up companies dedicated to climate change mitigation via the Green Angel Syndicate.

Serving on the finance committee, Dr Walmsley has a background in commercial-academic and professional publishing with a series of leadership and entrepreneurial roles driving rapid growth and transformation organically and via strategic partnerships. At Blackwell then Wiley, he served as managing director of £1-200 million international businesses through a period of rapid digital development, and he shared leadership of a £500 million Wall Street quoted company; he also previously grew a £6 million business to £100 million.

Dr. Walmsley holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Nottingham where he also gained a joint honours degree in Chemistry and Philosophy. More recently, he completed an MSc in Health Policy from Imperial College, and has been a Public Governor at Ravensbourne University London.

David Williams was the Leader of Hertfordshire County Council from 2017 to 2021 having been first elected to the council in 2013. This followed a career in financial services that included the roles of UK Supply Management Director and Group Strategy Development Director at Barclays PLC.

At Hertfordshire County Council, he established and chaired the Hertfordshire Growth Board and sat on the board of the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the Stevenage Development Board. He also championed local collaboration and partnership working across the wider public sector in Hertfordshire, notably with NHS bodies to provide better integration across health and care and a shared focus on population health.

Nationally, from 2019 to 2021, David was chairman of the County Councils Network, a cross party grouping of 36 County authorities that serve some 25 million people across England.

In 2021, David was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.

David has an economics degree from Cardiff University, and an MBA from Henley Business School.

Nick Willott is the Finance Director and Company Secretary of Elixirr International plc, a listed management consultancy. He is responsible for all aspects of the finance and company secretarial function in a high growth global business; he also serves on the boards of several group companies.

He was previously the Finance Director and Executive Board Director of the financial services division of a FTSE 250 company, where he had ‘Profit and Loss’ responsibility for £1 billion of sales of financial services products as well as the development of new digital financial services products, and a new B2B insurance business.

Nick has 25 years of experience in senior finance roles having held several Finance Director roles as well as leading global mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and cost transformation programs. Nick is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified at Deloitte and worked as a Director in Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory.

Nick is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; holds a degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge; and an Executive MBA from the University of New South Wales.

Manoj is studying International Business at the University of Hertfordshire, although he is currently taking a year out from his studies to serve in the full-time Elected Officer role of President.

During his time at Herts, Manoj has been involved in a number of initiatives to help drive student feedback and build a community feeling amongst his peers. In his first year as a student, he picked up the role of Student Representative, served as a Student Ambassador and was the Chair of the Strategy Society. During his second year Manoj’s role as a student representative then evolved to the position of School Community Organiser, when he also became the Chair of the Telugu Society. As well as the student leader roles he has assumed to date, he was honoured to receive a success award from the Business School.

When looking ahead to the 2023-24 academic year, Manoj expressed how excited he was to work with colleagues across the University to make the student experience the best it can be. He is hoping to achieve this by focusing on the academic quality here at Herts, ensuring students have access to top quality support services and championing our diverse student population even more.

Professor Layzell CBE was Principal of Royal Holloway, University of London between 2010 and 2022. He is currently Chair of Herts for Learning, the UK’s largest schools-owned company supporting schools and school improvement across Hertfordshire and beyond. His role on the Board is as a co-opted member having experience in the provision of education.

Previously, he worked at UMIST and the universities of Manchester and Sussex respectively. A computer science academic, Prof Layzell worked on early developments of cloud-computing and ‘software-as-a-service’ as well as systems to integrate health, social care, and education data. Between 2001 and 2004, he was Programme Manager for the merger of UMIST and the University of Manchester.

Prof Layzell has served as a non-Executive director on many bodies, including chair of the UK’s largest general qualifications examination board, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA); chair of London Higher, representing London’s universities; and chair of Eduserv. He has also served on the boards of Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA); Jisc; and joined the board of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust in 2022.

Prof Layzell was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours List in 2022 for services to Higher Education and Technology.

Alex Hall is Director of Legal and Compliance Services and University Solicitor at Herts. He is Chair of the Association of University Legal Practitioners, which brings together in-house lawyers from across the Higher Education sector in the UK and Ireland. He also advises the officers of University Alliance. His role on the Board is as a co-opted member of the professional staff nominated by the professional staff by means of an election by the professional staff as a whole.

Originally a commercial litigator, Alex spent a decade working in the City of London, with experience in fraud and financial litigation, before coming to Herts. Alex joined Herts in 2015 and, through the Association of University Legal Practitioners (AULP), has rapidly established himself as a leading lawyer in the higher education sector.

Alex is passionate about education and has wide experience in school governance, having served on the boards of three Hertfordshire schools. As Chair of Governors/Trustees at Beaumont School in St Albans, he worked with the school to achieve Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ status and pursued an ambitious capital works programme. He was named Hertfordshire’s Outstanding Governor of the Year in 2016. He is a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford, holding an MA in Modern History.

Tony is an entrepreneur, corporate innovator, and angel investor with over 25 years of leadership experience. An authority on start-ups, corporate venturing, building high performing teams and businesses, he is especially focussed on developing high-value, technology-enabled Health, Environmental and Sustainable Development impact driven organisations. His role on the Board is as a co-opted member nominated by members of the Board who are not Co-opted members.

Currently, he is a member of the Advisory Council and Venture Partner of the United Nations Development Programme-backed sustainability venture accelerator ‘Accelerate2030’ in Geneva as well as a Board Advisor at Geneva Macro Labs. Tony is also an investor and board advisor in FinTech, ClimateTech, Health, and software ventures with merger and acquisition exits to Oracle, Piksel, Nokia, and Opentext.

Tony has an MBA from Henley Business School; a BSc (Hon) Physics & Electronic Systems from Brunel University; and is a certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Dr Joel Carlton is the sole Deputy Dean of the Hertfordshire Business School, one of the largest Business Schools in the United Kingdom, managing a talented team of leaders delivering an outstanding student experience deeply rooted in the staff experience. In addition to his Deputy Dean commitments, he has key portfolio responsibility for: learning and teaching; the global network of franchise and dual award partners; and accreditation, including EFMD and AACSB, as well as supporting the TABSA global alliance.

Prior to academia, he had extensive, high-profile experience in industry working in various sales, marketing, and public relations roles for the renowned leader in luxury shipping, Cunard. At Cunard he achieved many firsts, including organising highly prestigious events such as the first serving head of state to sail on board QE2, President Nelson Mandela on 1998 World Cruise, and the visit of the Crown Prince of Dubai as part of the official opening of the Dubai Cruise Terminal in 2001.

He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA); a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA); and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (FRAS).

Dr Carlton also served as a founding Governor as well as Chair of the Standards Committee for the local Watford University Technical College.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Mairi was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor in January 2024. She was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience. She is engaged in all strategic and operational decisions that underpin the success of the University. Mairi has overall responsibility for developing all academic areas, working with our Deans, as well research and enterprise, international and regional partnerships, the student experience from recruitment to graduation, and student outcomes.

Mairi started her academic career at De Montfort University, and then the University of Northampton. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1992 with an LLB (Hons); from Kings College, London, in 1993 with an LLM in Criminology and Criminal Justice; and from the Open University in 2020 with an MBA. She is Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Deputy Secretary and Registrar and Head of Corporate Services

Helen Davidson is Deputy Secretary and Registrar and Head of Corporate Services at the University of Hertfordshire. She has over 20 years of Higher Education experience working for Newcastle University and the University of Hertfordshire. In her role as Assistant Registrar (Academic Services), Helen led departments to provide academic administration support in relation to: academic quality and compliance; the Doctoral College; Ethics; Degree Apprenticeships; and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. For the past five years, her remit has widened and as Head of Corporate Services she is responsible for university governance; legal and compliance; internal audits; health and safety; research; and planning and policy.

Helen is co-chair of the University’s People Committee and Chairs the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Success Group. Helen played a lead role in the University’s Athena Swan and Race Equality Charter Mark institutional submissions, for which the University of Hertfordshire holds Bronze awards. She is also a Senior Champion for the Carers Network at the University.

She has a BA (Hons) in Communication Studies from the University of Sunderland.