Our work is overseen by a Governing Board of thirteen people, which sets overall objectives and direction. These appointments have been made in accordance with the requirements of the Code of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.
Dr. Graham Spittle CBE is Chair of the Governing Board.
Graham Spittle is Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Software Group Europe. He was appointed to his present role in January 2010 and was previously Vice President, Software UKI (UK & Ireland) from 2008, prior to that Vice President, Integration Development and Director of the IBM Hursley Laboratory in the United Kingdom from 2001, and prior to that Director of MQ Development.
June 2008 appointed as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to industry on the recent Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Graham Spittle joined IBM in 1985 at the Hursley Laboratory and has held professional and managerial positions in Business Operations and Software Development. His roles have included development and strategy responsibility for major IBM products including CICS and Business Integration middleware (including the MQSeries family) as well as Business Development responsibilities. From 1995 to 1997 Graham was on international assignment in New York as a member of the Corporate Software Strategy Group. He has lectured and published on Software Contracting and Intellectual Property.
Graham received a Masters Degree in Geography from Edinburgh University and an honorary Doctor
of Science degree from Southampton University. Graham is married with two children.
In addition to his IBM responsibilities, Graham holds a number of external positions:
- Chair of the UK Technology Strategy Board
- Director of The Foundation for Science and Technology,
- Fellow of the British Computer Society
- Member of the Design London Advisory Group
- Member of the NHS Health Innovation Council
- Visiting Professor University of Bristol
- Visiting Professor University of Edinburgh
- Visiting Professor University of Southampton,
- Member of the Court of Benefactors of Oxford University
- Member of the Informatics Advisory Board at Edinburgh University
- Member of the Council of Southampton University
Dr Graeme Armstrong is Chief Innovation Officer with Akzo Nobel. He has extensive experience of senior management in global organisations with the emphasis on marketing, technology, innovation, research and development. Prior to joining Akzo Nobel he served as SVP Technology for ICI PLC and President EMEA with JohnsonDiversey Inc. He is a Chartered Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and member of their Science Policy Board, a member of the Innovation Strategy Board for the Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network, and a Member of the Industrial Advisory Board for the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Eur Ing Nick Buckland has a background of 20+ years in the UK ICT industry. He is a board member and former Deputy Chairman of the South West of England Regional Development Agency. He is Chairman of the Board of Governors of the University of Plymouth, Chairman of Tamar Science Park and DocCom Solutions. He holds a number of non-executive directorships in both the private and public sector. He is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Information Technology Practitioner, a Fellow of the British Computer Society, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the Chartered Management Institute and the Royal Society of Arts. He was appointed OBE in the 2009 New Years Honours list for services to technology and innovation.
Dr John Brown, PhD MBA FRSE, has extensive experience in the life sciences sector. He is Chairman of BTG plc and CXR Biosciences Ltd. a non-executive Director of Vectura Group plc, and Axis_Shield plc, and was a Director of Cambridge Antibody Technology plc until its acquisition by AstraZeneca .
In the public sector he Chairs the Roslin Foundation and the Life Sciences Industry Advisory Board for the Scottish Government. He is an advisor to several private equity and venture capital funds, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Honorary Professor of the University of Edinburgh.
Until Dec 2003, John was Chief Executive of Acambis plc, a leading producer of vaccines to treat and prevent infectious disease. Dr Brown joined Acambis as Finance Director in 1995 and was appointed CEO in 1997.
Dr Joseph Feczko was, Joseph Feczko was, until May 2009, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Pfizer Inc, with global responsibility for all aspects of the company's medical, regulatory and safety activities. Following a medical career specialising in internal medicine and infectious diseases, he worked in the UK for Pfizer and Glaxo, where his roles included Medical Director and Director of Global Regulatory Operations. He is a board member of bodies including Foundation of the National Institutes of Health (U.S.), the International Trachoma Initiative, the New York Academy of Medicine, the Accordia Global Health Foundation as well as a member of the Pharmaceutical Drug Forum of the Institute of Medicine, and was recently named to the Board of Directors for Research!America . Dr Feczko served as a member of the governing Board of the Technology Strategy Board (UK) from 2004.
Anne Glover is Chief Executive and Co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, the European technology investor. Amadeus has £460m of funds under management and has backed over 60 companies covering computer hardware and software, mobile and fixed communications technologies, clean technologies and medical technologies. Ms Glover was Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) from 2004 to 2005, having been a member of the Council that runs the organisation since 1999, and was also a member of Sir David Walker's high level private equity working group in 2007. She is currently a non-executive director of the UK government's Technology Strategy Board and chaired the committee on government procurement from SMEs in 2008. She is also a member of the London Business School's Private Equity Institute Advisory Board, a member of the Women's Enterprise Task Force and serves on the board of Optos and Glysure.
Before founding Amadeus, Ms Glover was a business angel and Chief Operating Officer of Apax-backed company, Virtuality Group, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1993. Prior to this she worked with Bain & Co. in Boston for five years before returning to the UK to join Apax Partners & Co, investing in early stage companies.
Ms Glover began her career with Cummins Engine Company, the global leader in diesel engine design and production. She holds an MA in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Clare College, Cambridge and a Masters in Public and Private Management from Yale. In June 2006 she was awarded a CBE for services to business and in July 2008 elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Dr David Grant is Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff University, a position he has held since 2001. He has a PhD in Engineering Science from the University of Durham and has spent much of his career in engineering and senior management roles in industry, including Technical Director of Dowty Group plc and Technical Director of GEC plc. Dr Grant has been a Council Member and Vice President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. In 1997 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was also made a CBE for his contribution to the UK's Foresight Programme. He is currently Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Jonathan Kestenbaum is Chief Executive of NESTA, The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. With a background in private enterprise and public service he was previously Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Apax Partners Ltd and Chief Executive of The Office of the Chief Rabbi. He started his career by building and then selling one of London's largest international metals trading businesses. He is a Board member of the Design Council and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Andrew Milligan is Head of Global Strategy at the fund manager Standard Life Investments, based in Scotland. He is a senior economist with experience of the public and private sectors, banking, stockbroking and fund management. His previous positions have included roles with H.M. Treasury, Lloyds Bank and Morley Fund Management. He is a Council member of the Society of Business Economists, including chairing its Investment Committee.
Dr Jeremy Watson is Director of Global Research at Ove Arup & Partners. Following a BSc and MSc in Electronics and Cybernetics at the University of London and a DPhil in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sussex, he has held a number of senior technical management roles in industry, consultancy and academia focusing on automation systems, process control and applied physics, including Director of Technology at BOC Edwards. Dr Watson is a Visiting Professor of Southampton and Sussex Universities, a Chartered Engineer and Chairman of the IET Control and Instrumentation Sector Panel. He is also a member of the EPSRC College.
Sara Murray (M.A. Oxon) is a serial entrepreneur. She founded Ninah Consulting, which uses proprietary software to advise clients including GSK, Diageo, CGNU, Comet and Coca-Cola on marketing effectiveness. In 1999, Sara founded inspop.com. She built and sold the online company with over 250,000 customers to the Admiral Group, and renamed it Confused.com. Sara then founded and now runs buddi, a GPS personal tracker which locates people instantly. Sara was a non-executive Director of Schering Health Care and is a founding board member of Seedcamp - a start-up school for technology entrepreneurs. Sara was a finalist in the 2008 Blackberry Awards for Women in Technology and the Real Business First Woman Awards.
Professor Christopher Snowden FRS is Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Surrey. He is a Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, chairing the Engineering Policy Committee and a Deputy-President of IET. He is a non-executive Director of Intense Ltd., an advisor to DMD Ltd and Filtronic plc, a Member of the Council of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Chairs the (industry) User Panel. He is a Board member of Universities UK, chairing their Employment, Business and Industry policy committee. Prior to his appointment at Surrey in 2005, he was Chief Executive Officer of Filtronic ICS, having joined Filtronic plc in 1998 and being promoted to Joint Chief Executive Officer in 1999.
His early experience was with Mullard Ltd and Racal MESL Ltd. He later worked as the Senior Staff Scientist in Corporate Research and Development at M/A-COM Inc. in the USA. He has been a consultant for several major international technology companies and has held a number of non-executive directorships. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the IET, City and Guilds of London Institute and the IEEE.
Stewart Davies is Strategy Director at Serco Integrated Services. He graduated in physics, going on to take a multi-disciplinary PhD , titled "the microstructure of bimetallic catalysts", both at the University of Cambridge. He joined ICI and worked in manufacturing and commercial roles in its Petrochemicals, Catalyst & Technology Licensing and Polyester Intermediates Divisions. His twenty years experience in general management and strategy includes Managing Director roles in Corus, Rugby Cement and Serco, where he is now Strategy Director, Serco Integrated Services.
As Business Commissioner at the Sustainable Development Commission since 2006, he has led the SDC's input to the Government's Business Taskforce on Sustainable Production & Consumption, Building Schools for the Future, the Government's Strategy for Sustainable Construction, the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation & Growth Team and Mobility 2020.
Iain Gray is Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board. Iain is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Chairman of the Business and Industry Panel of The Engineering and Technology Board (ETB), a Governor of the University of the West of England and a Board Member of SEMTA and the Energy Technologies Institute. Iain completed his early education in Aberdeen, culminating in an Engineering Science honours degree at Aberdeen University. He also holds a Masters of Philosophy from Southampton University and has Honorary Doctorates in Engineering and Science from Bath, Bristol and Aberdeen Universities. Iain joined British Aerospace (now Airbus UK) in 1989 and over time held roles including Director of Strategy and External Affairs and Engineering Director, becoming Airbus UK's Managing Director and General Manager in January 2004. He joined the Technology Strategy Board as Chief Executive in November 2007.
Note: In accordance with the Nolan recommendations there is a requirement for appointees' political activity to be made public. The only member who is involved in such activity is Andrew Milligan, who is a member of the Liberal Democrat Party. Ministerial appointments are also declared: Jonathan Kestenbaum is a board member of the Design Council.