About us

Independent and Co-opted Council Members

Mr R Darby - Chair
Co-opted

Mr Darby retired in July 2003 following a career spent almost entirely in the National Health Service. For the last 20 years he was based in South Bucks, as Chief Executive of Wycombe Health Authority and from 1993, South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust.

Mr Darby rejoined the NHS from 2004 to 2009, on a part-time basis, as a Director of the National Cancer Peer Review Programme. He was also a Trustee of the Child Bereavement Trust, a national charity based in South Bucks from 2003 to 2006.

A keen but untalented golfer, he was a Director of Flackwell Heath Golf Club from 2004-2009 and President 2007-2009.

He is a qualified accountant and in 2002 received an honorary doctorate from the institution.

Mr B Tranter - Deputy Chair
Independent

High Wycombe has been home for more than three generations of Mr Tranter's family, and he was a former engineering student. He started work with a local materials research company and then joined a division of PerkinElmer where he spent the bulk of his career working in the UK, the USA and finally as Managing Director for their operations in Asia. After returning to High Wycombe, he joined Oxford Instruments and has now retired from full-time employment.

Mr Tranter received a master's degree from Brunel University, is a Chartered Engineer, an active member of the IOM3 and a supporter of local business enterprise initiatives. He is also a member of the Council for St John Ambulance in Buckinghamshire.

Mr A Bellekom - Member
Independent

Mr Bellekom is Director of Big Village Consulting, a company specialising in the development and delivery of strategic plans for broadcast, media and not-for-profit organisations.

He spent more than two decades in broadcasting, most recently as managing editor of both Radio 2 and the digital station, BBC 6 Music. His career has included periods as Programme Director of the national, commercial station, Talksport, managing local radio, and producing the long-running soap, The Archers.

Earlier in his working life he directed and produced theatre, was a festival director, managed art centres and less glamorously, found himself programming a venue located in the hold of a cargo ship. He is a board member of a number of arts organisations, Chair of a national education charity and a Fellow of the RSA.

Mr Bellekom graduated from Reading University with a degree in Biochemical Engineering in 1976 and holds an MA in Arts Administration from City University, London. He is married with two teenage children and his interests include theatre, music, travel and American football.

Mr M Brown - Member
Independent

Mr Brown graduated from Cambridge University in 1964, having read mathematics at Clare College. He then became a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1969.

Mr Brown had a long career with AXA Equity & Law, based mainly at its High Wycombe office. Having held a variety of senior positions and a number of directorships within the AXA group, he was Chief Executive of AXA Equity & Law before retiring in 2001. Since then Mr Brown has worked as a consultant in financial services and is a non-executive member of the Monitoring Board of AXA Sun Life.

Married with a son and daughter, Mr Brown lives in High Wycombe and has a wide range of sporting interests including membership of local golf and bowls clubs.

Ms A Byatt - Member
Independent

Ms Byatt has 20 years experience working in the cultural sector. Currently she is the Director, Literature Strategy at Arts Council England, where she has a national overview of literature funding and development.

Previously she implemented the transformation of the Fawcett Library to the Women’s Library at London Metropolitan University, a £7m capital project.

She was also Head of Literature and Talks at South Bank Centre, running a high profile programme with writers from around the world. Throughout her work she has maintained a strong interest in developing learning opportunities and broadening access to culture.

Mr Baljit Dhillon - member
Independent

Mr. Dhillon holds an M.Sc degree from London University. He is a Fellow of Institution of Mechanical Engineers, European Registered Engineer and a Chartered Engineer.

Mr Dhillon started his working career with Mars Ltd and has worked for various multi-national companies in senior positions. He spent many years working in the USA with a multi-national company before returning to the UK. Until recently he was the Divisional Managing Director of Stadium Group plc, he now works as a Business Consultant.

Ms L Flynn - Member
Independent

Lori Flynn has over 20 years of experience working in the IT services industry with Electronic Data Systems (EDS). A qualified management accountant, the first 15 years of
Lori’s career were in a wide variety of finance roles in the USA, Canada, France, Germany and the UK. Lori also ran EDS’s UK Accounting and Finance Graduate Programme. In 2002, Lori moved into EDS’s Global Network Services business where she held a European leadership position responsible for the financial management, pan-European programme management and service delivery of internal and external telecoms services.

Lori left the corporate world in 2008 to take up a completely different challenge – running a GP surgery partnership in High Wycombe for almost two years. While in that role, she implemented many improvements and created a strong cohesive team. Lori started a new role in 2011, responsible for the financial management of a new business, outsourcing bids for Hewlett Packard.

Lori chaired the Bisham Primary School PTA and also the Clares Court School PTA. She attended the University of South Carolina on a volleyball scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She is Canadian and has lived in the UK since 1990. Lori currently resides in Bisham with her family. She is a keen off-the-beaten track traveller, enjoys walking, running and has taken up yoga with varying degrees of success!

Mr D Griffiths - Member
Independent

Mr Griffiths was the Chief Executive of Wembley Stadium Complex in the mid 1980s, and whilst he was there the profits increased by 230 per cent in an 18 month period.

As Chief Executive and Project Manager he masterminded the building of the largest purpose built University of Sport in the world, in Hong Kong.

A dedicated sportsman he has run for his country in the Commonwealth Games, has also competed in two World Cross-Country Championships and also represented England at Orienteering. Mr Griffiths is Vice President of the Wasps Football Club.

Mr I Hillan - Member
Independent

In his career Ian Hillan has gained board level and management consulting experience in IT, marketing, and general management. He has held board positions in a number of sectors including with W H Smith, the Financial Services Authority and Britannia Life. Recently he has focused on portfolio activities including: non-executive roles with small IT companies; mentoring; due diligence; and supporting Oxfam.

He is a Chartered Engineer with an MSc from Sheffield Business School, and is also a Freeman of the City of London, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and a Member of the British Computer Society.

Ian Hillan was born in Wales but has lived with his wife in Berkshire for many years. He has two adult children, enjoys travelling, sport and cooking.

Dr Michael Hipkins - Member
Independent

Michael Hipkins holds a degree in physics and a PhD in biophysics from Imperial College, London. He was a lecturer at the University of Glasgow before joining the Civil Service in 1988, working for the Department for Education and Science and its successor Departments where he held several posts associated with higher education. He retired as Director of Financial Support for Students in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2011.

Mrs P Odulinski - Member
Co-Opted

Mrs Odulinski is currently Principal of Aylesbury College, a general College of Further Education, after having worked in the sector in various roles at several colleges for 30 years.

She began her career teaching Creative Arts and completed her teacher training at Leeds University, later completing a MBA at the University of Leicester. At present she is also Chairman of CoMBO (Colleges of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire), a group of Principals of Colleges of FE, and actively participates in a variety of local business networks.

Mrs Odulinski is married with three grown up children and her limited spare time tends to centre on her family and foreign travel.

Miss Jenny Newton - Member
Independent

By education, Jenny is a Physicist from Imperial College, London. Since then she has held management roles in a number of international Information Technology and Telecoms companies such as Philips, Digital, Compaq, HP and Logica. Most recently she was CEO for the UK and Ireland subsidiary of Bull Information Systems. She has lived and worked in both France and Holland, speaking fluent French and Dutch.
Jenny’s special interests include literature and cinema. She selects the films for the Beaconsfield Film Society at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. She enjoys travel, food and wine. She is married with two daughters and has lived in Beaconsfield for 16 years.

Mr S Opie - Member
Independent

Mr Opie qualified with a medium sized firm of Chartered Accountants and became an FCA in 1981. His career has spanned both the profession (25 years) and commerce (17 years), mostly dealing with service sector organisations of all sizes, with an emphasis on jewellery. He also spent three years in Brussels running a small professional office.

He spent ten years working for a professional firm of Chartered Accountants assisting the partners on one extremely large client, acting as liaison between the client and his firm on a wide range of accountancy and taxation issues. He also managed the audit work on the retail side of the client consisting of over one hundred branches. Following that, he joined a family owned jewellery retail business, which is the world leader in its field, as company secretary managing all the non-trading operations, reporting to the directors. His brief included advising the directors on any issues or risks which might affect the business, both internally and externally, as well as providing solutions as required. He retired in 2006.

He is married with two grown up sons and lives in Amersham. He plays golf and enjoys watching all sport. He loves travelling and is actively involved in several local clubs and charities.

Mr K Ryan - Member
Independent

Mr Ryan took early retirement in 2002, following a 36 year career as a Quantity Surveyor in Private Practice. He joined his second employer, Faithful & Gould in 1970 when the Practice had 20 staff working out of three UK Offices. In 1996, when he was one of the Senior Partners, the Practice, (which by then had grown to be the largest Quantity Surveying Practice in the UK with 24 UK Offices, six International Offices and more than one thousand members of staff) was sold to WS Atkins (the largest Construction Consultancy in Europe).

On selling the Practice to WS Atkins, he remained with Faithful & Gould as Senior London Office Director before becoming Joint Managing Director with full operational responsibility, reporting to the WS Atkins Board. He also sat on the Atkins Property Services Board.

Married with four adult children, Mr Ryan was born in East Ham, East London but has lived in South Bucks since 1980. He is a Freeman of the City of London .

He is a member of Oakland Park Golf Club in Chalfont St Giles and enjoys watching most sports, especially West Ham United - the team he has supported since birth. He sits as a Magistrate on the High Wycombe Bench in both the Adult and Youth Courts.

Mrs T Teasdale - Member
Independent

Mrs Teasdale worked with local authorities in Oxfordshire before joining Thames Valley Police in 1973, first as deputy finance officer and then as Force Finance Officer until 1984. She then moved to the Home Office as financial advisor to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and, on leaving the Inspectorate, joined Cranfield Management School as a senior lecturer in accountancy and financial management.
A member of, and former examiner for, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountants, Terri was appointed to the post of Director of Resources for Thames Valley Police in 1994. Terri was responsible for personnel, finance, training and development, transport, procurement and central services and estates management.

In 1997 she was appointed the national representative of police staff on ACPO Cabinet for a two year period. She also is a member of ACPO Finance & Resources Business Area and the ACPO Personnel Management Business Area. She retired from the Police Force in 2011.
In 1999 Terri was awarded an OBE for her contribution to financial management in the Police Service.

Vacancies
three Co-Opted

University Council Members

Prof R Farwell
Vice Chancellor
Member (ex officio)

Ruth Farwell has been Vice Chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University since January 2006, having previously been Pro Vice Chancellor at London South Bank University with a portfolio covering academic planning and quality.

Ruth has a PhD in applied mathematics. She has published on higher education policy and her research is at the boundary between applied mathematics and theoretical physics, using the algebras of Victorian mathematician W.K. Clifford.

Ruth is Chair of GuildHE representing them on the Board of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and serves on the UUK Student Experience Policy Committee and Health and Social Care Policy Committee. In 2009 she was appointed to the Board of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and is a member of the HEFCE Teaching, Quality and Student Experience Committee. She is also chair of the Board of the South-East region Open College Network, and a member of the Board of the National Open College Network.

Dr Sukhie Mattu
Non-Academic Staff
Member

Sukhie Mattu is a graduate from Nottingham Trent University, where he studied Accounting and Finance as an undergraduate student. He also completed a MBA and a Doctorate in Business Administration.
His current role is Student Centre Manager within the Student Experience Directorate. He has overall responsibility for managing the Student Centre, including the student facing enquiry service. This also includes all aspects of central student administration and ensuring the data accuracy and student record data maintenance is of the highest order possible.
His interests include watching and playing football and cricket, covering miles through running and cycling. He is originally from Birmingham, but now resides with his family in a small village called Stone, on the outskirts of Aylesbury.

Mr Ashley Coles
President Students' Union
Student Member

Ash came to Bucks to study in 2008, gaining his degree in Sports Management in 2011. Throughout his three years at Bucks he was heavily involved within the Students’ Union, working on projects including Fresher’s Helper and the National Student Survey. He enjoyed playing rugby and was also the President of the Rugby Club.

Ash enjoyed being involved in Students’ Union activities and this led him to successfully stand for election as President. His priorities for his term of office include an increasing presence at the Uxbridge Campus, to ensure students there have a better work/social balance and a great overall student experience, as well as enhancing ‘The Big Deal’ and ensuring that students receive a positive impact during their time at Bucks.

Ash will continue to play rugby and explore employment in sports management projects.

Crystal Oldman
Elected Academic Staff
Member

Crystal Oldman is Dean of Enterprise and Business Development in the Faculty of Society & Health. Her professional & academic qualifications include general nursing (RGN), health visiting (RSCPHN), public health (PG Dip), teaching (RCNT, PGCEA), social research (MSc) and Leadership & Management (MA)
Crystal commenced training as a nurse at University College Hospital, London in 1977 and worked in the NHS for 16 years before joining BCUC to teach community and public health nursing and research methods. In the health service she trained and worked in intensive care nursing and in 1982 moved to a career in health visiting and public health, working with some of the most deprived communities in London.
In 1994, Crystal commenced work as a Senior Lecturer at BCUC and has subsequently held a Principal Lecturer post, a Head of Department and a Head of School position. She has maintained her links with community health throughout her academic career, and in 2005 was invited to be an academic member of the Public Health Stakeholder group at the Department of Health.
Crystal’s longstanding interest in the leadership and management of Higher Education institutions has inspired her doctoral studies into middle management in Higher Education which she is due to complete in 2013.
Crystal lives in South Buckinghamshire with her family.

Stephen Fox
Elected Senate Member
Member

Stephen is Head of School of Social Sciences, Primary Care and Education and has worked here since April 2010. Prior to this he worked at London Metropolitan University as both Head of Social Work and more recently Associate Head of Department of Applied Social Sciences. He trained as a probation officer and began working in Tottenham before moving on to various managerial and training positions within the probation service in London. He was appointed Director of the Greater London Probation Training Consortium to lead on the development of the new probation officer qualification in 2000.

Stephen lives with his family in Hertfordshire.

Linsey Taylor
Elected Senate Member
Member

Linsey Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance in the department of Business and Management (BAM) and is a member of the newly formed Clare Business School. From 2004 she worked at our Wellesbourne Campus teaching Sports, Airline and Tourism Management students the importance of finance, joining BAM full time in 2008.

Although a Business Law graduate, Linsey trained as a Chartered Accountant with the firm BDO Binder Hamlyn. She has also worked in industry, initially with Air Products plc. Here she gained Europe-wide experience of their business. After a brief venture as the co-owner of a small hotel in North Wales, Linsey returned to Buckinghamshire where a chance conversation led to a successful career change into education.

Her current research interests revolve around technology in education and she is studying for an MSc in the subject. This combines well with the needs of the department, where a number of e-learning based courses are being used and developed.

Linsey has lived in the local area most of her life, and attended Wycombe High School. Her sporting interests are mainly water based, with sculling and coaching junior rowers being a current passion. Dinghy sailing and boat building also occupy any other free time, as does watching Wasps play rugby and supporting her daughters at Regattas around the SE.

Council Officer    

Ellie Smith             
Clerk to the council  

Ellie Smith is Director of Academic Quality and Clerk to the Council. This is a dual role which provides support and guidance to Council Members and the University in respect of governance matters and also provides a lead across the University in relation to the operation of the University’s quality processes.
Ellie graduated with a BSc (Hons) Social Science in 1990 and gained an MA in Educational Administration in 1995. Her career with the University spans some 20 years where she has undertaken roles in both faculty and central administration progressing from a Placements Officer to her current role.
In addition to her role at the University, Ellie works as an Institutional Review Secretary for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Ellie lives in Oxfordshire with her partner.