Members of Council
The Council is the governing body of the University. It meets formally six times per year and is responsible for the finances, administration, property, management and, subject to the powers of the Senate, has general control over the affairs of the University.
Membership of the Council comprises a majority of External Members together with ex-officio and elected University Members.
Lay officers
Charlie is the former Senior Partner of the international law firm, Ashurst, where he also led the private equity practice. He was subsequently Chair of the corporate practice in London at the global US firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
He is currently a Senior Adviser at the strategy consultants Flint Global. He serves and has served as a non executive board member on a number of commercial and not-for-profit boards.
He was appointed by the government to chair the Accelerated Settlement Taskforce set up as part of the Edinburgh Reforms, was Chair of The International Stock Exchange, Deputy Chair at the Institute of Cancer Research, is a mentor for senior women for the Mentoring Foundation and has served as an external adviser on Department for Education panels for free schools.
University Committee memberships
- Council (Chair)
- Remuneration Committee
- Finance Committee
- Nominations and Governance Committee.
Subsidiary company directorships
- Blackwell Park Ltd Board.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- AforAXI Investments LLP
- ASAP Special Investments LLP.
Nigel has had a long career in finance and audit, having spent 39 years at Ernst and Young (EY), 29 years as a partner. Nigel spent the majority of his time working in London, but also spent six years in Switzerland, a year in the USA and travelled extensively on business.
Nigel had both management and client roles. He headed EY’s Northern Europe, Middle East, India and Africa audit practice, and its UK audit practice. He sat on EY’s Global Audit Operating Board for three years and earlier led the UK Transport Consumer Retail and Products practice.
As a practitioner and lead auditor, Nigel was responsible for some of EY’s largest clients including Sainsburys, RELX, ABB, Syngenta and British Airways.
University Committee memberships
- Council
- Finance Committee
- Nominations and Governance Committee.
Pam Powell was appointed to council in 2019 and is currently Chair of the Remuneration Committee.
She is an experienced FTSE 250 board director who brings leadership, commercial, and governance expertise to the council.
A long supporter of education and skills, Pam has previously served on the boards of Guildford College (now part of Activate Learning), the Royal Grammar School Guildford, and as advisor and sponsor donor of United World Schools.
She is currently Senior Independent Director of Cardfactory and a Director of Dublin-based Origin Enterprises. Pam previously chaired remuneration committees at Cranswick and Premier Foods. She is a dual US/UK national and holds an MBA and a BA in economics from Duke University.
University Committee memberships
- Council
- Remuneration Committee (Chair)
- Nominations and Governance Committee
- Honorary Degrees Committee.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- Origin Enterprises plc
- CardFactory plc (Senior Independent Director).
Ex-officio members
Professor Stephen Jarvis joined the University of Surrey as President and Vice-Chancellor in September 2025. Prior to this Professor Jarvis was the Provost and Vice-Principal at the University of Birmingham. He also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University and Head of its College of Engineering and Physical Sciences during his time here.
Before joining the University of Birmingham he was Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Warwick, where he led industry-academic partnerships in the area of big data and established an international scholarship programme in AI. He also supported the establishment of The Alan Turing Institute, the United Kingdom's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence, where he served as a non-executive Director and Trustee between 2018 and 2020.
Professor Jarvis is a computational scientist, and has published more than 220 peer-reviewed academic papers, including with Argonne National Laboratory, ARM, Centre for Space Research at MIT, CRAY, Fujitsu Labs Europe, IBM TJ Watson Research Laboratory, Intel, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, NASA Ames Research Center, NEC European Research Laboratory, Rolls-Royce, Sandia National Laboratories and the Francis Crick Institute. He has received several major grants from the UK Research Councils and from industry, supporting research in areas including data science, robotics and autonomy, aerodynamics and continuum mechanics, networks and distributed systems, computer graphics and visualization, software engineering and computer architectures.
University Committee memberships
- Executive Board
- Finance Committee
- Nominations and Governance Committee
- Senate.
Subsidiary company directorships
- Innovate Surrey Ltd.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure
- National Physical Laboratory Management Ltd.
Professor Emma Flynn joined the University of Surrey as Provost in July 2026. She previously held senior leadership roles as Provost at the University of Warwick, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at Queen’s University Belfast, and Deputy Provost at Durham University. She is also a member of the Irish Government’s Research and Innovation Advisory Forum.
Across her career, Professor Flynn has led major institutional initiatives spanning education, research and innovation. As Provost at Warwick, she led student growth plans, oversaw an integrated change programme, and served as academic lead for a major philanthropic campaign securing significant donor investment. At Queen’s University Belfast, she oversaw a 33 per cent increase in research income and contributed to a rise in global rankings, alongside supporting the University’s recognition as the UK’s most entrepreneurial university for two consecutive years. She also served as academic lead for the £1 billion Belfast Region City Deal, a partnership driving regional growth through innovation, digital infrastructure, tourism and skills development.
Professor Flynn is an active researcher with a background in psychology, specialising in cultural evolution and innovation. Her work examines how information is created, transmitted and adapted across human and non-human groups, drawing on both experimental and real-world contexts.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- Member of the Advisory Board for the Irish Government’s Research and Innovation Policy Board.
University Committee memberships
- Executive Board
- Finance Committee
- Honorary Degree Committee.
Subsidiary company directorships
- Innovate Surrey Ltd
- Operate Surrey Ltd
- Cervus Plus Ltd
- Blackwell Park Ltd
- Surrey Sports Park Ltd
- University of Surrey (Asia) Ltd.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- Orchard HR Ltd
- South Wilts Grammar School.
Nicoelle Ocampo is the Students’ Union President and a University of Surrey graduate in International Relations. She is the first Filipino Southeast Asian to be elected Students’ Union President across all UK universities. Her journey from a shy student to an elected representative shaped her commitment to helping students feel "a home away from home" and supported to get involved in university life.
Before becoming Union President, Nicoelle served twice as President of Surrey Filipino Society, helping it grow as the biggest society on campus as well as Filipino society in the UK with over 560 members and achieve recognition as Society of the Year. Her leadership brought students together through cultural and community events and charitable fundraising. She also received Surrey’s Student Sustainability Hero Award in 2026.
As Union President and a member of University Council, Nicoelle champions student voices in decisions about their education and wider university experience. She aims to be an approachable and ambitious President, expanding opportunities that prepare students for life after Surrey and much more.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- University of Surrey Students’ Union.
Members elected by Senate
Dr Femi Adeyemi-Ejeye is an Associate Professor in Video Technology in the School of Arts, Humanities and Creative Industries (SAHCI). His research focuses on Quality of Experience (QoE), immersive media, and real-time video systems, with a strong emphasis on applied impact in sectors such as transport safety, healthcare, and the creative industries. He has played a leading role in externally funded research projects supported by Innovate UK and industry partners, including a First of a Kind (FOAK) rail innovation project, where he led Surrey’s contribution to the project.
Femi’s research has contributed to global standardisation in Quality of Experience (QoE) through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international ICT standards, shaping emerging standards on immersive media and 5G-enabled communication. He also serves on the TECHNE Management Group and has held academic leadership roles across faculty and institutional levels, including Interim Associate Dean (Doctoral College) for FABSS. He is currently Director of Postgraduate Research for SAHCI.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- DIVINE ENERGY 5786 OIL & GAS LIMITED (Nigeria)
Dr Radu Sporea is Associate Professor in Semiconductor Devices at the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute, where he has studied and worked since 2007. His research focuses on emerging transistor technologies and their applications in displays, sensors, and energy-efficient electronics.
He has led major research projects and international collaborations, held leadership positions within the IEEE Electron Devices Society, and contributed to national research funding and policy activities.
Alongside his research, he has extensive experience in teaching, student recruitment, and academic leadership. He is committed to academic excellence, a thriving university community, and Surrey’s long-term development.
Biography to follow
Lay members
Julia Buckingham read Zoology at the University of Sheffield and, after a short spell in the pharmaceutical industry, moved to London to study for a PhD in Pharmacology at the University of London and to pursue an academic career. She was awarded a DSc and appointed to the Chair of Pharmacology at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in 1987 where she became Pre-clinical Dean in 1992.
Julia joined Imperial College London in 1997, contributing to the establishment of the new Faculty of Medicine and held the roles of College Dean for non-clinical Medicine, Head of the Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Pro-Rector (Education and Academic Affairs). In 2012 she was appointed Vice-Chancellor and President of Brunel University London, a role she held until she ‘retired’ in 2021. Julia was appointed a CBE in 2018 for services to Biology and Education and in 2019 was elected to a Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Throughout her career Julia supported that academic community in a variety of roles including President of the British Pharmacological Society and of the Society for Endocrinology, Chair of the Athena SWAN Review and the Researcher Development Concordat Strategy Group, member of the Sykes Commission, Editor of the Journal of Neuroendocrinology, a Director of the National Centre for Universities and Business, Chair of BioScientifica Ltd, a Trustee of the Royal Institution and the Royal Society of Biology and a Board member and President of Universities UK.
University Committee memberships
- Finance Committee.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- Non-executive Director, FutureLearn
- Institute of Cancer Research (Trustee and Chair)
- NC3Rs (Chair)
- Member of Council, Research England
- William Harvey Research Foundation (Trustee).
Nick Gatfield, is an investor and adviser to businesses in the entertainment and technology sector and a highly experienced executive in the global music industry.
He has held President and/or CEO positions at Universal (Universal Island UK), EMI (President, New Music, UK & North America) and was most recently Chairman and CEO at Sony Music UK where he led the global marketing campaign for One Direction.
Gatfield was awarded the Major Label Executive of the Year in 2013 at the Worldwide Radio Summit in Los Angeles and nominated for the industry icon award in 2014.
His signings include groundbreaking artists Radiohead, Blur and Amy Winehouse.
Gatfield set up Twin Music in 2015 as an alternative investment vehicle for both emerging artists and start-up technology businesses in the entertainment and media space and is a board member of several private sector companies.
Read more about Nick on Wikipedia.
University Sub Committee memberships
- Student Experience.
Subsidiary company directorships
- Surrey Sports Park Ltd.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- Academy of Contemporary Music.
- Twin Music Inc.
- Twin Music Publishing Ltd.
- Ten Four Drinks Ltd.
Biography to follow.
Philip is a former civil servant who spent most of the last decade of his Whitehall career as a Permanent Secretary leading the Department for Transport, the Home Office, and earlier the Department for Business. He also spent nine years outside the Civil Service, helping to establish Ofcom and later serving on its Board, as well as working as an investment banker in Hong Kong. He began his career with 15 years at HM Treasury, and was educated at Cambridge and Harvard.
Philip now serves on a variety of public and private sector boards, and chairs the National Churches Trust, the UK’s national charity dedicated to historic churches and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, an independent and politically impartial institution that seeks to improve economic policy through research and advice.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- St Andrew’s Church of England Church, Barnsbury
- Chair of National Churches Trust
- Member of the Advisory Board of WA Communications Ltd
- Senior Adviser, Civil Service College
- Chair of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research
- Non Executive Director for EY UK LLP.
Subsidiary company directorships
- Innovate Surrey Ltd.
Helen is a materials scientist who has spent most of her career fostering collaborations between universities and between universities and industry. Helen moved to the Midlands in 2008 to manage the Midlands Energy Consortium; whilst there, she played a critical role securing £60m government investment to establish the Energy Research Accelerator (ERA).
In 2015 Helen became Director of Midlands Innovation, a partnership of eight Midlands research-intensive universities in the Midlands. Under her leadership Midlands Innovation has collaborated to: advance the status and opportunity of technicians working in Higher Education; establish an independent investment vehicle, Midlands Mindforge, to raise £250m to invest in IP rich businesses in the Midlands and champion the role that universities can play in securing Foreign Direct Investment.
Helen is also the Co-Vice Chair of the Midlands Engine Partnership Board. Midlands Engine is pan-regional partnership which brings together combined and local authorities, universities, business and other stakeholders to advocate for the region and close the productivity gap between the Midlands and the rest of the UK.
Subsidiary company directorships
- Innovate Surrey Ltd.
Linda was appointed to Council in 2025 and Chairs the Audit and Assurance Committee. She is a Chartered Accountant. She spent her executive career in private equity with Mercury Asset Management.
She is an experienced non-executive director having spent the last 25 years acting as Chair/Director of numerous listed and private companies in various sectors including property, financial services, hospitality and medtech.
She is a long-term Guildford resident and is also on the Board of Trustees of the Learning Partnership, a local multi-academy trust.
She has a PhD in Biochemistry.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- Sherborne Investment Guernsey C Ltd
- Odyssean Investment Trust plc (Chair)
- Wesleyan Assurance Society
- Learning Partnerships.
Phil is a Surrey alumni (1982-86) and joined the council in May 2025. He is also a member of the Audit and Assurance Committee. An accountant by training, he has worked in health care for the past 25 years, including being CEO at InHealth Group, one of the UK’s largest diagnostic imaging companies. He has also worked at Care UK (MD of the community services division, followed by CFO of the wider group) and has been a non-executive director at Guys and St Thomas’s NHS trust for almost ten years. Before moving into health care, Phil worked in media and sports marketing.
Outside of work, Phil is married with two adult daughters. He lives in Buckinghamshire with his main interests being sports related, cricket, football and golf in particular.
Other governance roles in external organisations
- Practice Plus Group Topco Limited
- Pathology Services Limited
- Guys and St Thomas Enterprises Limited
- Crystal Advisory Limited.