UK Conference Biographies

Gillian Golden is the lead analyst of the OECD’s benchmarking higher education system performance strand of work, which aims to provide a better understanding of the performance of higher education systems by looking at the reasons behind the metric data through policy and practice benchmarking. She was previously a policy analyst at the OECD’s Education Policy Outlook, an analytical observatory that monitors the evolution of policy priorities and policy developments from early childhood education to adult education to provide a comparative understanding of how policies are evolving, and how they can be best implemented or improved over time.

Julie Anderson is a policy officer in the European Commission’s higher education policy team in the Directorate General for Education and Culture. In this role, she contributes to the Commission’s modernisation agenda for higher education, with specific responsibility for the Council Recommendation on tracking graduates and the development of policies on teaching, citizenship, the integration of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and digital and open learning.

Chris Millward is the director for fair access and participation at the Office for Students. His role is to ensure that universities and colleges are doing all they can to support underrepresented groups to access and succeed in higher education. Chris is an executive member of the Office for Students board.

Professor Sue Trinidad is Director of the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE). Prior to becoming the NCSEHE Director, Professor Trinidad was Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin during 2007-2012. Her role included overseeing the academic programs and leading the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme (HEPPP) for a large faculty with many Low SES, Indigenous and regional students. Professor Trinidad is an established scholar and researcher in the area of higher education and currently leads the NCSEHE team and various research projects.

Professor Helen Higson has worked in Higher Education since 1983. She is currently Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Aston University where she is Chief Academic Officer and leads on learning and teaching and employability. She is Professor of Higher Education Learning and Management and National Teaching Fellow (NTF) and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA). Her current research includes intercultural training for staff and students and research into employability competencies and diversity.  Helen was awarded the OBE in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to Higher Education and in 2017 was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the West Midlands.

Professor N.V. Varghese is currently  the Vice Chancellor of  the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) and  Director of the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE), New Delhi. He holds a doctoral degree in Economics with specialization in  educational planning. He was  Head of Governance and Management in Education  at the International  Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP/UNESCO), Paris till October 2013 and  Head of its  Training and Education Programmes from 2001 to 2006. He  was responsible for designing and  introducing  the IIEP  Master’s programme in educational  planning  and management. In the 1990s   he was a Professor and Head of the Educational Planning Unit at NIEPA, New Delhi. He has been closely associated with educational planning at the federal and decentralised levels and with the design and development of externally funded education projects in India

Arnel Onesimo O. Uy is the Vice Chancellor for Administration of De La Salle University in Manila. He is a lead assessor in the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) network, a group of Chief Quality Officers (CQOs) appointed by the AUN member universities to harmonize educational standards and to seek continuous improvement of academic quality of universities in ASEAN. In the Philippines, he serves as the Chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Technical Committee on Accountancy since 2014 as well as a CHED regional quality assessor since 2005. Aside from his involvement in AUN-QA and CHED, he is a full professor at the Accountancy Department at De La Salle University.

Daniel is the Senior Strategy Manager for the “Partnership for Digital Learning and Increased Access” (PADILEIA), which produces and delivers blended-learning higher education programmes in Jordan and Lebanon to students affected by the Syrian crisis. Before PADILEIA, Daniel worked on a variety of innovative education programmes in NGOs and universities across Europe and sub-Saharan Africa and was a founding staff member of Efterskolen Epos, a playful school for teenagers in Denmark.

Jamie Merisotis is a globally recognized leader in philanthropy, education, and public policy.  Since 2008, he has served as president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all.  He previously served as co-founder and president of the nonpartisan, Washington, DC-based Institute for Higher Education Policy, and as executive director of a bipartisan national commission on college affordability appointed by the U.S. President and Congressional leaders. His work includes extensive global experience as an adviser and consultant in southern Africa, the former Soviet Union, Europe and other parts of the world. Merisotis also commits his time and energies as trustee for a diverse array of organizations around the world.  He chairs the board of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the world’s largest museum for children, and holds leadership positions on the boards of the Council on Foundations in Washington, DC, and the UK-based European Access Network.

Dr Rebecca Ward is responsible for technical design and implementation oversight of higher education programs at IREX, including the Morocco Career Center Program, the West Bank Preservice Teacher Education Activity, an oral communications digital badge in Uganda and Tunisia, and the University Administration Support Program (UASP). She provides creative vision, technical design, and implementation oversight to higher education programs, with a focus on improving the relevancy and quality of higher education management, program delivery, and student support.

Celia Partridge focuses on UUKi TNE and Outward Student Mobility activity and support, as well as oversight of key international partnerships. Celia began her career in international education, at the Royal College of Music and the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), where she led on the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education. She has also managed Barclays UK community investment programmes. As a consultant, her work has included strategic reviews, programme development and sustainability strategy, for both charities and private enterprises.

Dr Cliona Hannon is responsible for the develop­ment and implementation of strategic priorities relating to fair access, widening participation and lifelong learning in Trinity College Dublin. A graduate of Trinity College, Cliona worked in a variety of educational and not-for-profit environments before returning to Trinity to set up an innovative, year-long academic preparatory course for young adults from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Since then, Trin­ity’s work in widening participation has expanded enormously and now comprises a continuum of programs for primary school pupils right through to post-graduation.

Anthony Gartner is a passionate Social Worker engaged in a commitment to improve education and employment outcomes for students living with a disability. Anthony is managing Swinburne University of Technology AccessAbility Services across all teaching divisions of the University, including higher education, pathways and vocational education, and online students. He is also in charge of developing and delivering a range of programs to encourage aspiration for tertiary education and to support current students from low socio-economic backgrounds. He is the President of the Australian Tertiary Education Network on Disability (ATEND) and works to foster collaboration and enhanced practice.

Ged Lerpiniere has been Director of LEAPS for 12 years. Before that he was Head of Careers at Edinburgh Napier University. He has worked as a Careers Adviser in schools and colleges in England and Scotland.

Doctor in Business Administration and Management by Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, Spain. She has been the Director of Knowledge Management at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas and was responsible for information services in the National Forest Information Network (Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation and Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Andean Commission of Jurists (CAJ). She was Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Altamira.

Dr Graeme Atherton studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Trinity College Oxford and has been working in the field of education research and management since 1995. After six years leading Aimhigher work in London, he founded and now leads both AccessHE and NEON in the UK. Graeme holds Visiting Professorships at London Metropolitan University and Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a member of the European Access Network (EAN) Board and has produced over 120 conference papers and publications.