Rt Hon Alistair Burt was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in October 2020. A law graduate, he qualified as a solicitor, before entering Parliament as MP for Bury North (1983-97). He served as MP for NE Bedfordshire (2001-19) and retired from the Commons in December 2019.
(Lay Member: current appointment to 30 September 2030)
Alun became a lay member of Council and the Finance and General Purposes Committee in 2022. He was appointed Deputy Pro Chancellor in 2025.
Alun is a Lancaster graduate and a former President of the Students’ Union. Alun has had a 30-year career in international finance in particular in Asia.
(Lay Member: current appointment to 15 May 2028)
Professor Steve Decent is the Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University. Steve is an applied mathematician, having studied for an undergraduate degree at Brunel University and a PhD at the University of St Andrews, and he is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. Steve worked at the University of Birmingham for 17 years as a mathematician, becoming Professor in 2006 and then Head of School in 2009. Steve then moved to the University of Dundee to become Vice-Principal and Head of College, and then he moved to Lancaster University in 2014 taking up the position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research).
Professor Rebecca Lingwood is Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University. She is a fluid dynamicist specialising in laminar-turbulent transition of complex flows.
Rebecca studied at the University of Cambridge for her undergraduate degree and PhD and subsequently worked at the École Polytechnique (France), the Royal Institute of Technology KTH (Sweden), the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Queen Mary University of London and Brunel University London.
She joined Lancaster in her present position in July 2024.
(Ex Officio Internal Member)
Kate Bracewell is the elected President of Lancaster University Students’ Union for2026-27.
She studied BA Design at Lancaster, during which time she also volunteered in various roles including Lonsdale College JCR Media and Communications Officer and President.
(Ex Officio: Current Appointment to 30 June 2027)
Saeeda Amin has been a Lay Member of Council since 2026. A graduate in Accounting and Finance and a Chartered Accountant, she is Chief Transformation and IT Officer at Fox’s Burton’s Companies, part of the Ferrero Group. She has over 20 years’ experience leading business transformation, strategy execution, finance, and post-merger integration across the FMCG sector, including major acquisitions and large-scale SAP S/4HANA implementations.
(Lay member: current appointment to 30 April 2029)
Kirsty Armer joined the Council in 2026 as a Lay Member. She currently serves in a number of board roles including as a Non-Executive Director on the board of AWE PLC, a Trustee of the Nuclear Institute and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Manchester Dalton Nuclear Institute.
Kirsty’s executive experience spans 30 years of operational, technical and commercial leadership roles in the civil nuclear industry, most recently as Vice President of Environmental Services at Westinghouse.
(Lay member: current appointment to 31 March 2029)
Wendy Barnes is currently a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Scottish Power. She is also an advisor in cyber security governance and works with government, and with CxB, a cyber advisory organisation, to help develop advice and guidance on cyber resilience for Boards. Wendy’s executive career was with British Nuclear Fuels and United Utilities, and she was also a Director General in the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
(Lay member: current appointment to 28 February 2029)
T
Tania Baumann is a senior executive with experience leading international, purpose-driven organisations. She is Deputy Secretary-General – Corporate, at the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Tania was previously the Chief Operating Officer at the World Energy Council, where she was responsible for its global operations covering people, finance, and governance, the Council’s relations with worldwide and sectoral member communities, and leadership convening practice.
(Lay Member: current appointment to 31 October 2029)
Hanah Burgess became a lay member of the Council in 2020.
After reading Geography at Oxford University Hanah joined PwC in 1997 where she qualified as a chartered accountant. She then went on to work in the financial services sector before taking on a senior finance and business development role at ITV.
(Lay Member: current appointment to 31 July 2027)
Anthony Carey is Senior Adviser, Board Practice and Public Policy at Forvis Mazars and was previously a Partner at Mazars, the accountancy firm, for many years.
Anthony is a chartered accountant and chartered director and has been actively involved in the higher education sector for a number of years.
(Lay Member: current appointment to 31 July 2026)
Jill Gallard is a career diplomat, most recently serving as British Ambassador to Germany from November 2020-August 2024. Prior to that, she was Deputy Political Director and Director of Human Resources/FCDO Board Member. From 2011 to 2014 Jill served as British Ambassador to Portugal.
(Lay member: current appointment to 31 January 2028)
Adrian Jonas joined Lancaster University Council as a lay member in 2022.
Adrian holds a Masters in Operational Research from Lancaster University and a Masters in Digital Health Leadership from Imperial College London. He is an expert on utilising data, analysis and artificial intelligence to address both organisational and societal problems.
Adrian is currently the Chief Analyst for the NW Region in the NHS and Senior Responsible Officer for the North West Regional Secure Data Environment.
(Lay Member: current appointment to 31 July 2028)
Wyn Morgan joined the Council as a lay member in March 2026 and brings extensive experience of higher education to the role. He was Professor of Economics, firstly at the University of Nottingham and then the University of Sheffield. In addition, he held several education leadership roles at Nottingham before becoming Vice-President for Education at the University of Sheffield.
(Lay member: current appointment to 28 February 2029)
Maureen Whilby joined Lancaster University Council as a lay member in 2022.
Maureen is a strategic people and organisational change expert, having led significant transformation programmes for many Public Sector, FTSE 100 and Global organisations.
She is currently a Non-Executive Director at Mersey Care Foundation Trust, one of the country’s leading Mental Health and Community Trusts where she is the Chair of People Committee and NED lead for people transformation and EDI.
(Lay Member: current appointment to 29 February 2028)
Professor Claire Leitch was elected as one of Senate’s representatives to University Council in 2021. Since May 2022, she has been Dean of Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), with responsibility for leading the Faculty to align with Lancaster University’s strategy.
Before arriving in Lancaster, Professor Leitch held posts at Queen’s University Management School, Belfast and the University of Ulster. She has an international research reputation in gender, leadership and learning in entrepreneurial contexts, with a particular focus on leadership, leadership development and learning.
(Senate Appointed Member: current appointment to 31 July 2027)
Alison has over 30 years’ experience working in higher education across a range of universities and in a variety of roles. She has worked at Lancaster University since 2013 and, since 2024, has been the Director of Students, Education and Academic Services.
(Senate Appointed Member: current appointment to 31 July 2027)
Distinguished Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone is a Senate elected member of Council since 2021, and is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise).
Prior to her appointment at Lancaster University Jo worked in a variety of university roles, including as a contract researcher, programme lead, Head of School, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Impact), Executive Dean, Health and Medicine. She continues to be an active researcher.
Funding for her research has come from a variety of sources including EU/FP7 Programme, National Institute for Health Research, Economic & Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and Australian Health and Medical Research Council. Jo is a named highly cited researcher.
(Senate Appointed Member: current appointment to 31 July 2027)
David Grice is the Wellbeing Officer 2026-27 of Lancaster University Students’ Union.
He studied BA English Literature, alongside working on the Furness College JCR as the Vice-President Wellbeing and Campaigns Officer, and on the International Students’ Forum as the Vice-Chair for Colleges.
Prior to university, David has worked in the NHS at a GP Surgery, providing organizational support for the local community, incorporating systems to ease the booking of appointments.
(Elected Student Representative: current appointment to 28 February 2027)
Susan has worked at the executive level in Higher Education for the past ten years and was formerly an Executive Director in Police Scotland. A qualified teacher and accountant, Susan also has a commercial background with various leadership positions in retail.
As University Secretary, she has responsibility for the operation of governance and support to the University Council as well as a number of other legal, governance and licensing roles.
