Speakers

Simon Harris TD is the Minister for Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science & Justice. He previously served as Minister for Health from May 2016 to June 2020, and as Minister of State at the Departments of Finance PER and Taoiseach with Special Responsibility for the OPW, Public Procurement, and International Banking (incl IFSC) from 2014 to 2016.

Simon’s involvement in politics began after he established an Autism support and lobby group in County Wicklow to seek to give a voice to people living with Autism and their families and to articulate their concerns and needs. He works tirelessly as a disability advocate and through his work in the disability area he has first-hand meaningful understanding of issues affecting people with disabilities.

Gary Gannon is the Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central – winning his seat in the 2020 General Election where he has been particularly vocal on Leaving Cert reform.

In 2014 Gary was elected to Dublin City Council representing the North Inner City local electoral area before joining the Social Democrats in 2015.

Gary was one of five General Election candidates put forward by the party in 2016 and also contested the European Parliament elections in 2019.

Dr. Conor O’Carroll is founder and director of SciPol Services Ltd. As an independent consultant on Research and Higher Education policy and funding, he focuses on researchers’ career development with special attention to doctoral education and career assessment. He has led European policy initiatives on Open Science and doctoral training (he led the development of the European Innovative Doctoral Training Principles). He is an active researcher on national and European Research Policy, R&D, Higher Education and Researcher Mobility policy and is an accomplished commentator on R&D and higher education policy and funding. In his recent book “Towards a Global Value System in Doctoral Education” he and colleagues reflect on the future of doctoral education.

With over 20 years of experience leading one of East Asia’s most successful education agencies focused on international student recruitment to 120 UK higher ed and 400 K12 independent school partners, Susan Fang is THE go-to champion of British education, bridging the information gap between the East and the West. After joining NLCS and the University of Cambridge as an international student, she became inspired to empower scholars from around the world to receive a world-class education in the UK. When not parenting her two teenage daughters and advocating for British education, she enjoys running marathons in the great outdoors.

Jan Palmowski is Professor of Modern History, with an interest in German political and cultural history since the nineteenth century. Raised in Germany, he studied at the University of York and completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford. He became a Lecturer in European Studies at King’s College London and was appointed Professor of Modern and Contemporary History there in 2009, before moving to the University of Warwick in 2013. In 2001 he won a major research grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Board for a project on ‘Constituting the German Nation: The Construction of National Identity through Theory and Practice, 1898-1998), and in 2007 he won a King’s College London Teaching Award. He served as Head of Arts and Humanities at King’s College London (2008-12), and Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Academic Vice President at the University of Warwick (2013-18). He is currently on secondment from Warwick as Secretary-General of the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, though he continues to teach PhD students.

Olivia McEvoy is an inspirational thought leader and change-maker who consciously creates inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible (IDEA) cultures and experiences where people are empowered to contribute and achieve their full potential. She is an advocate of data-driven transformation that embeds IDEA into systems, structures and cultures to achieve impactful, meaningful and sustainable change. She believes that should be delivered through authentic leadership, inclusive relationships and partnerships, personalised solutions and innovation.

She is Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Booking.com whose mission is to ‘make it easier for everyone to experience the world’ and a voluntary advocate in the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland including as former Chair of the Board of Directors of the National LGBT Federation and during her long-term involvement in the campaign to secure civil marriage equality in Ireland.

Olivia holds a M.Sc. in Interactive Digital Media and B.A. (Hons.) in Sociology and Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin. She is also an LBCAI-accredited lifecoach and a United World College scholar.

José M. Martínez-Sierra is the Director General of the UPF Barcelona School of Management. He is Jean Monnet ad personam Professor for the Study of European Union Law and Government. Between 2012 and 2021, he performed different teaching, research and administrative roles at Harvard University, working at Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Business School, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Harvard Law School. Faculty Affiliate at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Faculty Associate at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Faculty Associate at the Center for American Political Studies, and EU Law Coordinator at the Harvard Law School – Institute for Global Law and Policy.

Before joining Harvard University, he was an advisor to several Ministers responsible for Education and Universities. He served as General Director for International Relations at the Spanish Ministry of Education and General Director of the Agency for the Internationalization of Spanish Universities. Former President of the European Union High Level Group on Education and Training Policies and the EU Education Committee, a member of the OCDE Education Policy Committee and former president of the Bologna Follow-up Group. Representative for Higher Education at UNESCO and senior member of the Fulbright Commission.

Chiara Finocchietti is Director of CIMEA – NARIC Italia. Geographer, she comes from the world of research and is an expert in the evaluation of qualifications and higher education systems. Author of various publications on the subject of credential evaluation, she coordinates numerous international projects on the above topics and is a member of various international working groups on higher education policies. She has been appointed a member of the Working Group on Higher Education of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU Working Group on Higher Education), and is an expert of the ETINED Platform (Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education). She is Vice-president of the ENIC Bureau and National Correspondent for the Italian Qualifications Framework within the EHEA.

Rachel was nominated Global Director of Communications at INSEAD in October 2022 and leads Strategic Communications for both internal and external audiences, developing and delivering a robust communications strategy to grow INSEAD’s reputation as “The Business School for the World”. Rachel joined INSEAD in 2019 as Global Director of Marketing and Recruitment of degree programmes driving positioning, awareness and successful recruitment of talented students and executives.

Rachel began her professional life in tech, driving sales and marketing across Southern Europe for the software company Macromedia (now Adobe). She joined the higher education sector in 2005 and has built her career in prestigious business and engineering schools starting at ESCP, where she led the rebranding of the business school and developed the marketing and student recruitment team across Europe as the Director of Marketing and Business Development. Rachel then went on to become Vice President for Marketing and International Relations at École Polytechnique where she supported the president to define the global international development strategy with a strong focus on strategic partnerships.

Rachel’s passion for higher education, marketing and communications have been key drivers in her career path and she thrives in a dynamic and truly international environment. She enjoys building team environments, which empower autonomy, collaboration and creativity.

Outside of work, Rachel is a keen amateur Flautist, a lover of fiction and travel, increasingly in its slow form.

After graduating from Salford University, Manchester in 2001: BA hons in French, Spanish and International Relations, Rachel completed a post-graduate degree in Marketing and Management at the Chartered Institute of Marketing in London.

Nunzio took his MBA at The Wharton School in the USA, where he won the Glockner Prize for Management, after gaining an MA at the University of Cambridge in the UK. At Wharton, Nunzio also led the team that won the Moot Corp Business Venture Award in 1990, in competition with teams from the top US and European business schools. Before starting his own business Nunzio worked in strategy consulting for Mercer Management Consulting and Bain & Company, in the UK and Italy.

Nunzio is responsible for the annual QS TopMBA.com Applicant and Recruiter Research, producing several reports including the annual ‘QS Global 200 Business Schools: The Employers’ Choice’. He is also research director for the annual QS World University Rankings® and is recognized as an authority on the strengths, weaknesses and specializations of business schools and universities around the world.

A respected journalist on management education and careers, Nunzio has written regularly for many leading newspapers including The Times of London for the past 15 years.

Committed to QS setting an example in socially responsible leadership, Nunzio has given this reality by establishing the charitable foundation, QS Education Trust, which provides scholarships for higher education to young people who have demonstrated socially responsible leadership.

Jacqui is the British Council’s global lead for international student mobility and marketing at the British Council. Jacqui leads a team in the 35 countries that send more than a 1000 new international students to the UK annually. Jacqui launched the UK’s agent and counsellor training and engagement platform in December 2022, which aims to reach 20,000 education advisers globally by 2024. Jacqui has had an extensive career at the British Council and has been instrumental is setting up Going Global conference, the global Study UK Alumni Awards and she was the education adviser to the UK’s Government GREAT Britain Campaign; Study UK.

Solenn Daudu graduated as an Engineer in Urban Planning in 2013 and completed her education with degrees in International Relations for Asia-Pacific, in Commerce and Management and in Communication Tools for Smart Cities. After working on a French Smart City project, she cumulated a few years’ experience in international relations as she was Director of International Relations and European Projects in a French Graduate School of Engineering. She now owns her company Vanillea International and aims to support the international development of higher education at large. She achieves this through partnership development, student recruitment and support, European cooperation projects and teaching among others. The projects she coordinates address topics such as entrepreneurship, education, STEM, soft skills, digital skills, sustainable development & urbanism. Her targeted areas are Europe, Asia and Africa.

Benjamin is CEO of RimaOne with 10 years of experience. He is the founder of the ACADEM by RimaOne solution.

He specialized in the past ten years, in process automation in many different sectors. Deriving the benefits of these experiences ,Benjamin applied those methods for higher education institutions to automatize the collection and updating of all the variable data required to assess and manage quality of Learning and Research through many different statistical reporting for all purposes, internal as well as external. (Accreditations, rankings, surveys …).
Since 2013 and the creation of ACADEM, he assists and follows the implementation of the quality and accreditation processes within higher education institutions in more than 40 countries.

His experience with more than 150 projects has given him an extensive vision of the problematic facing higher education.

He also has been involved in different projects with two of the international accreditation agencies (AACSB and EFMD).

Dr Ebun Joseph is a Diversity and Race relations consultant, Director Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies and Founder and Chairperson, African Scholars Association Ireland (AFSAI, 2018 -2022). Dr Joseph is the Coordinator and Lecturer in UCD of the first Black Studies module in Ireland. She worked as a Teaching Fellow at TCD, Career Development Consultant at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Business in the Community Ireland as Training and Employment Officer. Dr Joseph has a PhD in Equality Studies from UCD School of Social Justice; an M.Ed. in Adult Guidance and Counselling from Maynooth University; an IACP accredited diploma in Professional Counselling; and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Benin. Dr Joseph focused her PhD dissertation, titled ‘Racial Stratification in the Irish labour market’ on workforce experiences. Ebun is an author, TV panellist, Columnist, equality activist and convenor of various webinars on Anti-Racism. With a research focus on Labour markets and race relations, she has presented at several conferences, businesses and non-profits. Ebun is published and contributes regular responses on contemporary issues of racism in Ireland. Her recent book is titled, Racial stratification in Ireland: A Critical race theory of labour market inequality with Manchester University press. She also co-authored the book, Challenging Perceptions of Africa in Schools: Critical Approaches to Global Justice Education with Routledge in Jan 2020.

Anthony Hié is Chief Digital Officer, member of the Executive Committee at Excelia Group Previously Chief Information & Digital Officer, member of the ExCom at ESCP Business School (2018-2021), Director of Digital and IS at the Catholic University of Paris (2015-2018) Director of Organisation and Information Systems at the Department of Moselle (2012-2015), winner of the 2023 trophy for innovation and transformation through digital. CIO of the Reims Management School group and of the Reims Chamber of Commerce (2001-2012). Head of IS France for the USC Europe group, manufacturer of aerosols (1996-2001). He holds a Master’s degree in IS Audit and Design from the University of Lorraine and a Specialised Master’s degree in Information Systems Management from ESSEC Business School. He is also ITIL3/ITIL4 certified and holds a certification in digital marketing from the University of Illinois, USA. He previously held several IT positions at Aerospatiale.

Bolanle Tajudeen, founder of Black Blossoms, is a respected educator and art curator dedicated to showcasing contemporary artists of color. Since 2015, she has curated numerous public and gallery exhibitions, connecting these talented artists with diverse global audiences. In 2020, she launched the Black Blossoms School of Art and Culture and Journal, an innovative initiative documenting marginalized artists’ histories and creative practices. As an alternative art school, it offers courses on topics like Black British Art, Art and Revolutionary China, and Curating Black Art. Bolanle also teaches “Art in the Age of Black Girl Magic,” exploring the practices of Black women and non-binary artists. Black Blossoms collaborates with esteemed institutions such as Tate and the Photographer’s Gallery, aiming to ensure recognition and remembrance of Black and artists of color in the public consciousness and art market. Bolanle’s commitment to uplifting these artists has earned her a well-deserved reputation as a trailblazing leader. Through Black Blossoms, she continues to inspire and empower students and artists, driving social change in higher education and the art world for a more equitable and inclusive future.

Prof. Brian MacCraith is a Senior Advisor to the President of Arizona State University (ASU), with specific responsibility for the development of strategic initiatives (academic and corporate) in Europe. He is a Professor of Practice in the College of Global Futures and a Global Fellow at ASU’s University Design Institute. Much of his work is focused on the pivotal role that universities must play in tackling issues of planetary health.

Brian was President of Dublin City University (DCU) from 2010 to 2020, during which time DCU underwent major transformation and grew significantly in terms of scale, footprint, and reputation.

Prof. MacCraith is a distinguished physicist and is renowned internationally for his research achievements in the areas of (bio)sensor technology, photonics, and advanced materials. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Ireland.

Prof. Catherine Léglu is Vice-Rector (academic affairs) at the University of Luxembourg. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Medieval French and Occitan literature, and before 2019 she worked for 25 years in departments of Modern Languages in UK universities (QUB, Bristol and Reading). Among her past administrative roles, she was year abroad coordinator for the mandatory study abroad of undergraduate students. The University of Luxembourg has mandatory international mobility for all Bachelor’s students, and encourages mobility for Master’s and PhDs students, as well as staff.

Kelly-anne Watson is a dynamic and accomplished Managing Director at The Class Foundation, with a wealth of experience in events, politics, higher education, and real estate. Her impressive career spans over 7 years, during which she has built a strong network of influential leaders in the student housing sector and worked on a variety of impactful projects.

As a former member of the National Code, Kelly-anne implemented the first health and wellbeing clause into the UK national accreditation scheme in 2016. She has since continued to champion social value, investment, sustainability, wellbeing, community, and policy reform within university cities across Europe.

Kelly-anne’s passion for education and quality housing for students is at the core of her work. She understands that a positive and supportive living environment is crucial for students’ success and has dedicated her career to improving accesses to the sector. Her leadership and enthusiasm has been instrumental in connecting the largest network of private and public stakeholders in Europe and driving positive change in the student living sector.

Dr Nigel Healey is Professor of International Higher Education and Vice President (Global and Community Engagement) at the University of Limerick. He is currently serving as Interim Provost and Deputy President. Prior to his appointment at the University of Limerick in April 2020, he held senior academic positions at Fiji National University, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Canterbury and Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as teaching positions at the University of Leicester and Leeds Beckett University.

Dr Healey has served as an economic policy advisor to the prime minister of Belarus and the deputy minister of economy of the Russian Federation and managed a number of multinational research and economic development projects in Europe and Asia. His current research interests are in the internationalization of higher education, transnational education and higher education policy and management.

Kai Peters is Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Business & Law as well as International Development at Coventry University and a member of the Coventry University Group Leadership Team since 2017.

Previously, he was Dean/Director of Ashridge from 2003 to 2015. Following the 2015 strategic alliance of Ashridge with Hult International Business School, Peters was appointed Chief Academic Officer of the combined institution. Prior to joining Ashridge, Peters was Dean, and previously director of MBA programs, at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) of Erasmus University in the Netherlands, one of the first schools in Europe to achieve the accreditation triple crown.

Peters has written or co-written 10+ books and chapters and 50+ academic and practitioner articles on leadership and management education including the books Steward Leadership: A Maturational Perspective for the University of Cape Town Press in 2013 and Rethinking Business Schools for Emerald Publishing in 2018. Two of his articles were selected as the best articles in the EFMD’s Global Focus in 2021. He has been twice selected in the UK for HR magazine’s top 100 HR professionals.

Karen Tinsner-Fuchs is the Head of International Engagement & Quality Development at the University of St. Gallen. Ensuring high-quality teaching, research, and executive education is crucial to the University’s reputation. The Quality Development team is responsible for accreditations, rankings, evaluations and provides monitoring tools and information for programme management to identify areas for development. Karen holds a doctorate in higher education research from the University of Zurich and has nearly two decades of experience in quality assurance and development. Her previous positions include Head of Teaching Evaluation at the Medical School of the University of Ulm, Project Manager at the Evaluation Office of the University of Zurich and Research Assistant at the Chair of Social Psychology and Higher Education Research at ETH Zurich.

Frank Coton is Senior Vice Principal and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) and is a member of the Senior Management Group of the University of Glasgow. He has University level responsibility for leading the development and implementation of the University Strategy, planning, budgeting and the processes and policies associated with academic career development. He also has responsibility for oversight and leadership of the development, implementation and governance of the University strategy in relation to IT and digital technologies.

Frank previously had responsibility for educational policy and strategy and all teaching quality processes across the University of Glasgow. He also had oversight of the development of the physical and digital teaching environment. He is former Chair of the UK Russell Group Committee of Pro-Vice Chancellors for Learning and Teaching. He is also former Chair of the Student Experience Steering Group of the Universitas 21 global university network.

Claire is a business leader with experience in launching and growing new ventures in fast paced, high growth digital businesses backed by private investors – with a recent focus in EdTech. She has extensive commercial and operational experience across strategic partnership management, marketing, customer experience, product strategy and business strategy. A demonstrated history of delivering profitable growth, building high performing teams, and leading change to deliver improved employee and customer experience.

John manages a broad portfolio of international education research and intelligence produced across the British Council’s global insight hub network. Key outputs include market intelligence briefs, thought leadership reports and data tools that assist UK universities to recruit international students and develop transnational education partnerships. Prior to joining the British Council in 2019, John ran his own international education consultancy, and before that worked as a senior economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. John has degrees in Economics from University College Dublin and the University of Galway.

Clodagh McGivern studied Corporate Law in NUI Galway (now University of Galway) and graduated in August 2021. She was elected as the Vice President – Education Officer for NUI Galway Students’ Union for the 2021/2022 academic year. After her term in Galway came to an end, she ran for the Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Union of Students in Ireland and was elected as the officer for the 2022/2023 academic year. During her term she has worked closely with students, sabbatical officers and stakeholders in higher education to represent third level students across Ireland.

Denis Guibard, started his carrier in the R&D at the French National Center for Telecommunications Studies (CNET) in the field of satellite communications before taking responsibility for designing the R&D strategy of France Télécom (the French national telecommunications operator) , later Orange. In this position, he contributed to the implementation of the operator first international laboratory in Silicon Valley.

He pursued his career at Orange, being in charge of innovation and marketing on B2B vertical markets, then becoming program manager for the design and the deployment of Orange fiber optic pan-European network, before being promoted as Vice-President Quality and Information System for Orange international networks division.

He then joined Orange mass market division as Vice-President in charge of innovation and disruptive projects such TV over IP or home automation. From 2008 to 2014, he has been Vice-President for Sustainability, Products and Services, aiming at turning sustainability into an innovation and value creation driver. In this position, he has been involved in the development of the digital economies in Africa.

He was appointed Dean of Institut Mines-Télécom Business School in December 2014 .

Denis Guibard graduated from École Polytechnique and Télécom ParisTech . He also holds an MBA degree from Sloan School of Management (MIT, Cambrige USA). He holds responsibilities in various organizations focusing on CSR and Sustainable Development, including chairman of the CSR and Sustainability Committee of the Association of French “Grandes Ecoles”(CGE) and Collège des Directeurs du Développement Durable (C3D), a leading think and do tank, gathering Sustainability Officers in more than 240 French companies, from SMEs to the largest international companies.

Professor Anne Sinnott was appointed Deputy President of DCU in July 2020, and also holds the position of Vice President for Diversity and Equality. Prior to her appointment as Deputy President, Professor Sinnott was Executive Dean of DCU Business School and a member of both the Senior Management Group and Executive of the University. She has held the roles of Deputy Dean, Director of International Development, Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning and Head of the Marketing Group during her time in DCU.

Prof Sinnott has previously worked in both market research and in education. She is an IRCA certified Internal Quality Auditor and a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland. Since leading DCU Business School to AACSB accreditation in 2015 she has served on a number of AACSB peer review panels and as mentor to a number of International business schools. She is a member of the AACSB Continuous Review Committee and the European Advisory Panel. She is the Aurora Champion in DCU and sits on the University’s Women in Leadership Steering Group.

Her current interests include women in leadership and business education for women in Saudi Arabia.

Prof Sinnott holds a PhD and MBA from NUI, Galway and a BA and Higher Diploma in Education from University College Dublin. Recent research projects have included the marketization of higher education and the development of a customer centric approach to policing.

Colin Scott is Professor of EU Regulation and Governance at UCD where he currently serves as Vice President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Principal of UCD College of Social Sciences and Law and Dean of Social Sciences. He has also served as Dean of Law at UCD. He previously lectured at the University of Warwick, the London School of Economics and the College of Europe, Bruges and was a Senior Research Fellow in the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University. His research addresses themes of effectiveness and accountability of regulation and challenges regulation presents to democratic governance. He has taught in the fields of regulatory governance professional regulation and consumer protection. Colin previously served as a board member of the Institute of Public Administration and was Convenor of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance, 2016-2021. He is currently an independent member of the National Economic and Social Council and the Irish Research Council and on the Editorial Board of The Conversation UK.

Steve Carter has been at the front line of international student recruitment for over 20 years working as a Global Sales and Marketing Director for several large education companies, including Study Group and Cambridge Education Group. He has extensive first-hand experience of multi-channel recruitment of students from all regions of the world.

In July 2020 he co-founded StudentApply, a global student recruitment platform focussed on recruiting international students from diverse markets for a global portfolio of highly ranked universities.

StudentApply was acquired by QS Quacquarelli Symonds in November 2021 and Steve now serves as Vice President of QS Apply. The mission remains unchanged – to recruit qualified international students from under-represented countries to add to the diversity of our partner universities.

Dr Jean van Sinderen-Law graduated from UCC with a Bachelor of Science degree and a PhD in Microbiology. In 2018 Jean was appointed as Associate Vice President/Director of European Relations and Public Affairs. Formerly she held the roles in UCC of EU Projects Officer, Research Support Officer, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Associate Vice President/Director of Principal Gifts, each of which has been a new role created in response to changing economic/Government circumstances in which the University sector operates. Prior to her commencement on staff at University College Cork Jean held an EU funded Marie Curie post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

As Director of European Relations and Public Affairs, Jean is responsible for establishing key partnerships for the University with the European Institutions, Universities, Governments and agencies to advance UCC’s education, research and public engagement missions. These partnerships bring new ideas and new practices to the University which cultivate work ready and world ready graduates through postgraduate research and training, staff and student mobility, investment and the delivery of excellence in teaching, cultural, sporting and social programmes. Such partnerships enable input to policy and funding opportunities in a timely and planned manner resulting in harnessing of new opportunities, not only for the University but for its partners and stakeholders nationally and internationally thus contributing to economic, social and cultural growth.

Jean served as a Governor of UCC and also was elected as a member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland. She is a founding member of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA) and the European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship Association. She is a Trustee of CASE Europe (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education), an organisation with a global membership of 3,500 educational institutions.

Jean has worked in a pro bono capacity for several charitable organisations including the Haven Partnership in Haiti, the Hope Foundation in Calcutta, Concern in Addis Ababa and Our Ladies Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin. She serves on the board of management of Presentation Brothers School, Cork, is a trustee of the Tomar Trust engaged in the business of philanthropy and is a non-executive director of Egerton Capital Equity Fund.

Jean was selected as the Women Mean Business (WMB) Businesswoman of the year in Ireland in 2010.

Her “otherness” is as an actress for which she has trained and has considerable experience in film, television and theatre.

Jon Foster-Pedley. Jon is dean and director of Henley Business School in Africa, part of the Henley Business School UK, a leading global business school with campuses in Europe, Asia and Africa. With Henley Africa being the first school to be accredited by The Association of Africa Business schools (AABS), Henley now holds international quadruple accreditation, AABS, AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. Henley’s purpose is ‘We build the people who build the businesses that build Africa.’

Jon’s career includes roles as educator, dean, corporate executive, airline pilot, aerobatic competitor, writer and speaker. He has 45 years of international working experience. He has been a professor of innovation, MBA director, director of executive education, designer and director of numerous executive education programmes and lecturer in strategy, innovation and executive learning. His interests are economic and educational transformation, sustainability and business evolution.

Henley Africa has been an entrepreneurial success, with a strong reputation for progressive learning design and care for students and clients.

Jon has driven a number of initiatives such as #CorporateActivism, #NoMoreBribes, #InformedDemocracy and #FamilyFriendlyMBA. He is the founder of Henley EARTH – Environmental Activism thru Research & Training @ Henley.

Jon is chairman of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa, chairman of the Association of Africa Business Schools, board member of the Alliance of Management Development Associations in Rising Economies, and former vice-chair of the South African Business Schools Association. He is chair and founder of MBAid, an NPO that seeks to turn the energies of business schools to social good, which has worked with over 350 NGOs. Jon is also a Distinguished Professor at Woxsen University, India and a life Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Shauna leads the Global Relations, Partnerships and Mobility Team, on the development of existing and new global relations, partnerships and mobilities, guiding UCD’s academic leaders in developing partnerships and supporting mobility initiatives. Shauna works in partnership with Una Watkins, Director of International Student Recruitment, to provide the vision, strategic leadership and management of UCD Global to realise the ambitions set out in UCD’s Global Engagement Strategy 2021-2024.

Chris Osman is the TOEFL Strategic Partnerships Director at ETS Global. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Missouri, USA and a Global Master’s degree in International Relations from Webster University. Having participated in three study abroad programs and with over 10 years’ experience developing global admissions, marketing, and recruitment policies and strategies, Chris has obtained valuable experience in international education. In additional his passion for global learning and his background in international relations has allowed him to obtain additional knowledge in topics such as immigration, student mobility and assessing student needs.

Currently he supports organizations, higher education institutions and other valued education partners with the TOEFL® iBT test, the preferred English-language test that is accepted by more than 12,000 universities and institutions in over 180 countries.

Mary Tupan-Wenno is the executive director of ECHO, Center for diversity policy in The Hague, the Netherlands. Her professional involvement in diversity and inclusion developments in higher education started at the Dutch Ministry of Education Culture and Science. Mary has more than 30 years of experience with policy and program development to improve equity of underrepresented and marginalised groups in higher education and at the labour market, with a specific focus on ethnic diversity. Mary is a founding member of the European Access Network (1991) and GAPS, Global Access to Postsecondary Education initiative (2016) and a member of the Board of EAN and GAPS.

ECHO is a non-profit organization focusing on developing new strategies, policies, and practices to improve diversity and inclusion and counter racism and other mechanisms of exclusion in higher education and the labor market. ECHO collaborates nationally and internationally with schools, universities, businesses, governments, and student- and community organizations.

Bálint Markó is vice-rector for quality, competitiveness and non-traditional education, and also professor in Biology at the Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania. He oversees the UBB Goes Green programme of the UBB dealing with sustainable development policies and coordinates the STAR Institute of UBB. As vice-rector for non-traditional education he is in charge of the distance-learning programmes and of supervising and coordinating campuses outside the headquarter of UBB. Due to his engagement in implementing European policies at UBB, Markó represents his university in the board of vice-presidents of the EUTOPIA alliance and the Guild consortium. Markó supports the need for universities to interact constantly with society and by that transform institutions in a sustainable manner.

An experienced leader with a global perspective, a talent for cross-cultural and interdisciplinary team-management. An innovator with a proven track record for spotting upcoming trends and their opportunities, as well as developing strategies to exploit these trends for stakeholder growth and engagement. A natural networker who has an established media presence, industry visibility and global corporate relationships.

Ian Lynes, Product Director for SaaS solutions, has vast experience working with universities globally to help them to achieve their objectives in student recruitment, internationalisation, and managing global reputation. Over the past 16 years at QS, Ian has established himself as a trusted expert in delivering value to universities through software products and services.

Before joining QS, Ian honed his skills at IBM, where he managed products focused on leveraging web technology to enhance businesses. This helped him develop a keen understanding of the power of technology and data-driven strategies.

Ian’s recent work includes collaborating with universities worldwide to enable them to enhance their reputation through insight-driven communication strategies with global academic and employer contacts.

With his extensive knowledge and practical expertise, Ian inspires and guides universities to enhance their global standing and improve their international recruitment by leveraging leading software solutions, strategic communications, and international collaborations.

Jools O’Connor is Project Lead for the MicroCreds Project, based at the Irish Universities Association (IUA).

MicroCreds is a five year project which has received €12.3 million in funding through the Higher Education Authority’s Human Capital Initiative, aimed at establishing an innovative system of quality assured and accredited micro-credentials across seven IUA universities. Prior to joining the IUA, Jools worked in the education sector in a variety of roles including strategic planning, operations, marketing, stakeholder management and business development. She has worked across undergraduate, postgraduate and professional education at institutions including Imperial College London, the Royal College of Physicians London and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Jools holds an MBA from Trinity College Dublin and Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications.

Karys Davies is the Planning and Performance Manager in the Planning and Strategic Projects Unit at Swansea University. She is responsible for all aspects of university performance including monitoring and improving the University’s domestic and international league table performance as well as other institutional KPIs.

Karys has been working at Swansea University in a variety of roles since 2017, prior to this Karys worked in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office as a Research and Policy Officer. Karys is also a Swansea alumnus having studied a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and an MA in Applied Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University.

Selma Toohey is the Director of Europe at QS, leading a team of 9 client partnership managers who give insight, solutions and advice to Universities across Europe. Based in the UK, Selma joined QS two years ago following senior positions in international offices at Coventry University, Shorelight Education and Nottingham Trent University. Having lived in 7 countries, she has formed an expertise in HE emerging markets, driving revenue to support University expansion, transformation initiatives and growth vision. Selma studied Politics at Nottingham Trent University and an M.Phil at Trinity College Dublin.

Dr Gozie Offiah is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Curriculum at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She is also the Clinical Lead for the National Intern Training programme in the Health Service Executive, the chair of the cross-cultural group of tEACH, the International Association of Communication in Healthcare and the Non- Executive Director of the Medical Protection Society for Ireland. Dr Gozie Offiah practised medicine (with a background in Surgery) for over 15 years in the Health Service Executive (HSE). She has held several leadership roles across several organisations in Ireland and Internationally. Her teaching experience spans undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education in health professions education and training. Her teaching interest includes curriculum design, delivery and faculty development. Gozie has a special interest in the role of mentoring and role modelling in the delivery of health care.

Andy worked at 3 UK universities in international student recruitment and partnership roles for 16 years before joining QS in 2021. His focus is on optimising the student journey on behalf of QS’s partners and believes that every student deserves personalised and premium support during their daunting admissions journey. He often posts badly-lit videos on LinkedIn where he talks about #Admissues (admissions issues) and other topical subjects facing international higher education.

Dr Niamh Humphries is a Senior Lecturer at the RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management. She holds a PhD in Sociology and has been researching health workforce issues in the Irish health system for the past 17 years. Niamh leads the HRB Emerging Investigator Award for the Hospital Doctor Retention and Motivation (HDRM) project and will shortly begin another research project focused on General Practitioner Retention. Niamh is also member of a National Taskforce on the medical workforce.

Marine Condette is Senior Manager, Accreditation and Member Services at AACSB International. She has gained extensive experience in international higher education, having worked at Educational Testing Service (ETS), Laureate International Education and the French Embassy in the Netherlands. She is a member of EAIE’s Professional Development Committee and is currently following a DBA in Higher Education Management at the University of Bath, UK.

Mark graduated from Warwick in 2004 (MMORSE), and since then has had a varied career, taking in German customer service and international executive research before landing in higher education via the Development and Alumni office at the University of Birmingham.

Since moving into Strategic Planning, he has spent several years curating and combining datasets, building Tableau workbooks and providing reporting, analysis and insight on a range of topics. These include graduate and student surveys, research bibliometrics and league tables both domestic and international, leading to engagement with a variety of external stakeholders from statutory bodies to special interest groups, league table compilers and service providers, working with QS over a number of years.

This work enables strategic decision-making across the institution, with a particular current focus on the aspiration of the University to be amongst the global top 50 by 2030.

Jacques is a senior consultant at QSIU with a specific focus on international education, higher education performance analysis, and global engagement strategy. Since Joining QS, he has been working extensively with universities in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia–Pacific. Prior to that, Jacques was engaged with directorial positions that included the strategic orientation and governance of international academic programs and student services, as well as lecturing in International Relations at Sciences Po, Paris.

Drew is originally from Glasgow, Scotland. He holds an MA in business, Master’s in linguistics and PhD in Psychology. He has worked in education for over 12 years and joined QS as the Rankings Manager, supporting a team of data and research specialists in our rankings research.  

An academic by training (psychology), Drew has presented at international conferences and published research on language. He lectured in the Department of Linguistics at the University of York where he was involved in course planning, teaching, advisory work and research. Missing the buzz of the private sector he took up a position as Education Manager at an educational consultancy in Shanghai, where he led a team of international educators and supported the business growth. Combining this experience in both the public and private education sectors led him to QS. When time and weather allows, he is likely to be listening to jazz whilst photographing his life and travels.

Juan Carlos oversees at the global level the customer experience strategy for QS Reporting and Evaluation services. He was appointed in this role after 5 years of being QS regional director for Latin America. His vision is built upon the 20 year professional experience with universities in Latin America, Middle East, and Europe. Today he uses his advanced analytical and intercultural skills to support institutional performance improvement through an evidence-based and structured approach.

Anton John Crace is Editor and Program Designer in the QS Intelligence Unit in Singapore. Through his role, he edits QS’ university news and rankings supplements. He has worked within international education for almost a decade including within an education provider, education agent training platform and media.

He was the Asia Pacific Editor of The PIE News, an international education media outlet, and broke stories including the decision of some universities to pay Indian agents GST and the New Zealand government’s decision to scrap a review into in-study work rights for international students. For many years he was also a familiar face on the conference circuit throughout the Asia Pacific through live tweeting – follow him on Twitter @antoncrace.

Anton was recognized as the Universities Australia Higher Education Journalist of the Year in 2019 at the National Press Club of Australia, and received the Excellence Award for Professional Commentary from the International Education Association of Australian in 2018.