Lord Kamlesh Patel was raised to the peerage as Baron Patel of Bradford, of Bradford in the County of West Yorkshire in 2006 and is a cross bench peer. A qualified Social Worker, Lord Patel worked in inner city Bradford and then established a number of Third Sector agencies working with those misusing drugs and those with mental health problems; later moving to academia working with a number of universities. Lord Patel has held a number of high-profile public appointments on national boards and committees, including the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work, the Home Office’s Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs, the Healthcare Commission, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse and the Care Quality Commission.
He was also Chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Lord Patel has contributed to a variety of Government policies including being the architect of the Government’s five year action plan for delivering race equality in mental health care.

In 2007 he was appointed by the Prime Minister to act as a Ministerial Adviser to the Secretary of State (DCLG) in respect of the government’s PREVENT agenda (Preventing Violent Extremism). He was also Chairman of a National Taskforce looking at the effectiveness of prison drug treatment culminating in the publication of the influential Patel Report. In 2018, Lord Patel of Bradford was appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care as the Chair of Social Work England – the new regulator for all child, family and adult social workers in England. He was honoured with an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 1999 and was voted “Yorkshireman of the year” in 2016.

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli has been Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow since 2009. An economist, his research interests are monetary economics, central bank independence, fiscal policy, international finance and macroeconomics. From 2007-2009 he was Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University. Prior to 2007 he held various roles at the University of Glasgow including Vice-Principal – Strategy, Budgeting and Advancement (2004-07); Daniel Jack Professor of Political Economy (1994-2007); and Professor and Lecturer, Department of Economics (1984-94).

Sir Anton was Chair (2016-21) of the First Minister’s Standing Council on Europe, a non-political group providing expert advice to Scottish ministers on Scotland’s relationship with the EU. He was a member of the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisers 2015-21, and subsequently advised them on the National Strategy for Economic Transformation. He is a member of the advisory group for Sir Paul Nurse’s Review of the UK’s Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape. From 2017-20 he was Chair of the Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities. He has been a special adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee on fiscal and monetary policy, and he has advised the European Commission and the World Bank. He holds an honorary degree from McGill University in Canada.

Ashwin has been with the QS Quacquarelli Symonds group since 2012. In his current role as Regional Director, he works closely with universities in Middle East, North Africa and South Asia to better understand the local context and to support universities and higher educational institutions in their quest for excellence and capacity building.

Ashwin is an ambassador of the quality movement in these regions and has advocated the need for independent evaluation mechanisms. He actively promotes the use of QS University Rankings and QS Ratings for various purposes, be it students aspiring for higher education in reputed institutions across the globe, government agencies looking to have their universities compete globally or academics looking for partners focused on research initiatives.

He is also responsible to liaise with governmental and public agencies to better understand the changing market dynamics. In the course of his professional engagement, he has met with senior leaders from the region and is often invited to speak at several conferences and events on university rankings, ratings, education, higher education etc. He has been a panelist on various discussion forums and presented his recommendations on thought provoking topics

Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, a Rhodes Scholar, is the Founding Vice-Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global (Institution of Eminence Deemed To Be University) (JGU) in India. He was appointed as the VC at the age of 34 in 2009 when the university was established. JGU is one of only 20 universities in India and the only non-STEM university, which has been declared as an “Institution of Eminence” by the Government of India.
Professor Kumar is an accomplished legal scholar and works in the fields of human rights and development, comparative constitutional law, terrorism and national security, corruption and governance, law and disaster management, legal education, and higher education. He has nine books and over two hundred publications to his credit and has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, law reviews in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, UK and the USA.

Professor Kumar has academic qualifications from the University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Hong Kong, University of Delhi and Loyola College. He served as a faculty member at the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong, where he taught for many years.

Professor Bailey began his career as an apprentice draughtsman. Over a period of five years he worked for a number of design consultants, supervising the construction of a variety of building structures, before studying for a degree and PhD at the University of Sheffield. After completing his PhD he returned to industry to work for the Steel Construction Institute and the Building Research Establishment, where his practical and research experience resulted in significant developments in structural engineering.

He joined The University of Manchester in 2002 as Professor of Structural Engineering, and became Head of the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at Manchester in 2007. He was then appointed Vice-President of the University and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering in 2009, before becoming Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2014. His leadership achievements at Manchester include the launch of a number of high profile research projects, such as the BP International Centre for Advanced Materials, The National Graphene Institute (£61m) and The Sir Henry Royce Institute (£283m). He also has significant non-executive experience, sitting on the Board of a number charities and organisations.

Professor Bailey is author of more than 120 research papers and practical design guides, and has been awarded nine prizes for his research work. His main specialties are fire safety engineering of structures, membrane action, wind loading and steel-concrete composite systems. He has also been involved in the structural fire design of number of iconic buildings in London including the Shard, Heron Tower and the Leadenhall Building. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers and a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers. He joined Queen Mary as President and Principal in September 2017.

Dawn Freshwater is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland. She became the University’s first female Vice-Chancellor in March 2020, after serving as the University of Western Australia’s Vice-Chancellor and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Registrar for six years (2014-2020).

Professor Freshwater was the first female Chair of the G08 Research Intensive Universities in Australia,and past Chair of the Partnership Board of the World University Network (WUN). She is currently Chair of UNZ Research Committee,  member of the National Health and Research Medical Council’s Women in Health Science Committee (NHMRC) and Deputy Chair and board Director of Research Australia.

Professor Freshwater was awarded her PhD at the University of Nottingham (1998) and is a highly experienced and driven supporter of translational research and research-led teaching. Her contribution to the fields of Public Health (specifically Mental Health and Forensic Mental Health) and in researching Leadership practices won her the highest honour in her field – the Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN). She is an elected Member of the Academia Europea and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland.

As an academic, Professor Freshwater has contributed to more than 200 publications, including peer-reviewed papers, research reports, books, editorials and media contributions, and she continues to supervise PhD students.

A strong advocate of industry engagement and of the role of higher education in supporting trade agreements, Professor Freshwater maintains strong professional ties with key figures in education and industry in Asia, Europe and the United States. She is known for her advocacy and action in equity and inclusivity.