The Visitor shall be the final court of appeal for matters which are referred by the Governors and which lie wholly within the jurisdiction of the College not being subject to the oversight of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education or the Visitor of the University

The Rector is titular and religious head of the College foundation.

Mark brings a great deal of governance experience and a long commitment to social justice and inclusion.  He has recently retired from his role as Programme Director of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts.  Mark is also a musician and, as a priest, a writer in the field of ecumenism.

Mark knows St Chad’s well.  He was a student here in the late seventies and has been actively engaged as an alumnus in recent years.

I have been Principal of St Chad's College since March 2016; prior to that, I was Vice-Principal and Senior Tutor for 11 years.

My academic discipline is English Literature, with special interests in D.H. Lawrence, Post-Colonial Literature, and Theology and Literature. I lectured in the USA - in Washington State and Michigan for a number of years before returning to Durham to serve as Senior Tutor of St John's College and to teach in the English department.

As Principal, I appreciate having a strong Governing Body who can help to set the college's strategy and offer wise counsel from a wide range of perspectives and professional backgrounds. St Chad's is a college in which every voice is valued and part of my role is to ensure that we build a community in which as many members as possible - and especially students - are engaged and valued.

In my life beyond St Chad's, I serve as a Bishops' Advisor for Training Institutions, was involved for many years in Traidcraft, the UK's leading fairtrade organisation, and help to organise a community/church Eco-Fest.

To unwind, I enjoy walking (ideally with my family), reading (of course), and Nordic Noir.

Paul has been a Tutor at St Chad's College since 2004, was made a Fellow in 2008 and became a member of Governing Body in 2015. On the Governing Body, he formally represent the diocese of Durham, and so has a particular role in promoting Chad's Christian identity. As Vice Chair and Treasurer, he brings experience from the business and charity sectors, and is particularly interested in supporting Chad's commitment to social justice which has been a key theme in his career over the last twenty years.

Paul studied Modern History at Oxford in 1980 - 83, before joining Barclays Bank. After nine years in various roles there, he became General Secretary (i.e. chief executive) of SPCK - the oldest Anglican mission agency (founded in 1698) which then ran a publishing business, a chain of bookshops and an international grants programme to support theological education and publishing around the world. In 2001, he moved to the North East to become Chief Executive of Traidcraft - the UK's leading fair trade organisation and social enterprise, responsible both for its trading operations and also for its international development and policy lobbying activities, and so was one of the main leaders in the UK Fair Trade movement as it really took off in the mainstream during the period from 2005 - 2012.

In 2013, Paul left Traidcraft to develop a "portfolio" of non-executive positions in the business and charitable sectors. He is currently Vice Chair of Chapter at Durham Cathedral (where I am also a Lay Canon); a trustee of CBF Funds Trustees (which owns a majority stake in the leading charity and church investment manager CCLA, and is one of the three National Investing Bodies of the Church of England); and a director of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office in Brussels.  Previous  non-executive roles have included being: a Non-Executive Director of the Co-op Group (the supermarkets, funerals and insurance provider); a director of Shared Interest (a co-operative lending society which makes loans to fair trade producers); Vice-Chair of the County Durham Community Foundation (which makes small grants - totalling over £3 million per annum - to community groups in this region); and a trustee of Bible Society (a long-established charity which promotes Bible translation and distribution around the world, and encourages engagement with the Bible in the UK).

He is married to Sarah, a GP who is also a college Tutor. We live in the Neville's Cross area of Durham, and have three daughters and one grandson. Our eldest daughter, Jo, was a student at Chad’s, graduating in 2019.

Robert is Emeritus Professor of Theology in the University of Cumbria, having retired from the post of Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, Arts and Business in 2015. He was then appointed as Priest in Charge of the Anglican Parish of St John the Evangelist, Workington in the Carlisle Diocese. At the same time he became Chair of the Board of Directors of Cumbria Christian Learning, established by the Carlisle Diocese with its ecumenical partners to provide education and training for lay and ordained ministry in the North West. In 2019 he was appointed Director of Ministerial Formation for the Diocese in 2019. He retired from this post in 2021 and in the same year was received into the communion of the Catholic Church with his wife Catherine. Robert was very glad to accept the nomination as governor by the Bishop of Carlisle as a sign of his continuing regard for the Anglican Church and the cause of Christian Unity.

Robert brings to the role of governor a long career in University teaching, research and senior leadership. He has served as Chair or member of many University-level committees and on numerous education-related governing bodies. His academic research and teaching has focussed on Christian doctrine, Systematic Theology and Philosophical Theology.

John is an alumnus of the College (1985-88).  He spent his legal career at Dickinson Dees LLP and latterly Bond Dickinson LLP from 1989-2016. A Disputes Resolution Partner, he was elected Senior Partner in 2010 and was responsible for managing partnership issues, promoting the firm externally and shaping and delivering the firm’s future strategy with the Managing Partner. He was a key member of the team that negotiated a transformational merger in 2012 and latterly was Vice Chairman of the new firm.

As well as consultancy work, John is Chair of Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, a public/private partnership whose role is to deliver economic growth and promote the area as a great place to visit, and to live, learn, work and invest.  He is also Non-Executive Director of North East England Chamber of Commerce.

John also holds a number of other senior non-executive roles. He is Chair of Trustees of Newcastle United Foundation, Chair of the Regional Development Committee of the Prince’s Trust and sits on the International Advisory Board of Newcastle University Business School.  John  is a Tutor at the College  and a School Governor at Northumberland Church of England Academy in Ashington.

Adam was elected as a governor of St Chad’s in 2022.

Adam is a Chartered Town Planner by academic training and has spent his professional life in the real estate industry, specialising in the area of planning and development. Adam has experience in many property sectors including residential in all its forms, industrial and logistics, regeneration, institutional, heritage estates and the sustainability agenda.

Adam has worked for Chartered Surveyors Savills since 2011, is a Director of the UK business and has responsibility for the North of England within his discipline. Over his career Adam has also practiced in London and Oxford.

Adam is married with two children and lives within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. In his spare time he enjoys fell walking and other outdoor pursuits.

Jane Macnaughton is Professor of Medical Humanities at Durham University in the UK and Director of the University’s Centre for Medical Humanities (CMH). She has been centrally involved in the development of medical humanities in the UK since 1998. She was part of the core group that set up the Association for Medical Humanities in 2000 with support from the Nuffield Trust and was its inaugural Secretary. She edited the journal Medical Humanities from 2002-2008. The Northern Network for Medical Humanities Research was established on the back of a meeting Jane initiated and chaired at Durham in February 2013 with the purpose of strengthening the visibility of medical humanities research and encouraging collaboration across universities in the North of England and Scotland. 

Simon took up the role of Deputy Provost of Durham University in January 2019, having been Principal of St Mary’s College since September 2011. Prior to this, Simon was Head of the School of Applied Social Sciences and then Deputy Head (Research) in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health at Durham.

Simon has undertaken a wide range of cross-University roles including being Vice Chair of Durham’s Ethics Advisory Committee, Chair of the University’s Safeguarding Operations Group, member of the Sexual Violence Management and Operations Group and member of Senate Discipline Committee. Simon was also one of two Senate elected members of the joint Council and Senate Governance Review Board.

Simon’s academic position at Durham is as Professor of Child Abuse and Neglect and his research relates largely to interpersonal violence and child maltreatment in its various forms. He is known internationally in the field of research into sexual offending and, specifically, in relation to children with harmful sexual behaviours.

Yvonne has a portfolio career that includes local, national and international governance and advisory roles that brings together a wealth of experience of social and environmental impact investing in high growth entrepreneurial businesses, improving access to finance and driving business innovation. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales holds a DBA, MBA, IOD Diploma in Company Direction.

Locally, she holds non-executive directors with the North East England Chamber of Commerce, Innovation Super Network, and NEL Fund Managers having formerly been CEO. She is an investment committee member on the North of Tyne Creative and Cultural Investment Partnership.

Nationally, she is Chair of the advisory board for the UK Government’s Office for the Small Business Commissioner’s, Chair of the UK Prompt Payment Code Compliance Board, a member of the ICAEW Members and Commercial Board, an advisor to Responsible Finance and an assessor for Innovate UK.

Internationally, she is chair of the ethical lender Shared Interest and was an advisor to the UAE Ministry of Finance-backed, Mohammed bin Rashid AED 2 billion Innovation Fund.

In addition to volunteering as a Governor of St Chad’s college, Yvonne is a trustee of Millfield House Foundation, Shared Interest Foundation and the Northern Society of Chartered Accountants.
 

After graduating from Imperial College, London, where she studied for a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and Management, Mags joined Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) based at their Teesside sites. Over the following twelve years she held a variety of engineering and commercial positions, at ICI, specialising in commercial operations and supply chain management within the oil and gas sector. She obtained an MBA from Durham University in 2004. From 2004-2014 Margaret worked for Traidcraft, the leading fair trade organisation based in Gateshead, holding a number of roles including Operations Director, Business Director and Chief Executive. From 2015 to 2022 Margaret was the Chief Operating Officer at County Durham Community Foundation (a charitable grant making body supporting the North East voluntary sector). Since summer 2022 she has ceased full time employment, she is vice chair of the Independent Monitoring Board at Holme House Prison (Stockton) in addition to other various voluntary roles including being vice chair of the Durham Diocesan Board of Finance. 

Alan joined the Governing Body in 2016. He says that he was a hard-working, happy and occasionally foolish student at St Chad's in the late 1970's. He studied Philosophy - which he claims that he found quite difficult but loved. Alan says that he ran for the University without great distinction and played jazz music, sometimes unintentionally discordantly. Alan eventually became Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of KPMG International, a consulting and accountancy firm which allowed him to travel the world and advise many large companies and governments. He left to work in political administration and public policy. Alan's life noe includes a portfolio of political and charitable work, a preoccupation with trying to run faster than other "older" men in the UK and admiring the lives of his grown up children. Alan hopes that his many years internationally and his time at the heart of the UK's political system, will enable him to bring a wide perspective to the development and delivery of the College's strategy. He would like to help the College to develop as a community of learning which is unique in its commitment to the wider world.

Richard Springer has been Rector of St George-in-the-East in the east end of London since 2018 having previously served his curacy in Hackney. He trained for the Priesthood at Westcott House, Cambridge before his ordination in 2013 in the diocese of London. Immediately before entering the Church of England for training, Richard worked in a London Mental Health NHS Trust as a Psychodynamic Therapist with children and adolescents. He has also been the Director of the Oxford-Kilburn Youth Trust a neighbourhood youth charity in west London and the Head of Programmes at Toynbee Hall, where the international settlement movement began.

In addition to his current parish responsibilities he is a Dean of Cultural Diversity in the diocese of London and Director of the Urban Leadership School at the Centre for Theology & Community. 

Lauren is an experienced fundraising and communications professional with a keen interest in the education sector, particularly around access to education and diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

In her current role as a Deputy Director for Teesside University she leads the institution's alumni engagement and fundraising function within the Communications & Development department, working in close partnership with the Vice-Chancellor and the University's senior leadership team to engage Teesside alumni and external stakeholders in support of the University's wider strategic mission. She also supports the delivery of the wider communications and events strategy for the University, working to position Teesside as an anchor institution which drives positive social impact on a global scale.

Prior to her role at Teesside, Lauren spent six years at Durham University as a Senior Development Manager, working primarily with the Faculty of Science as well as coordinating alumni relations and development activity in North America. She is a graduate of Newcastle University, and is delighted to be supporting St Chad’s College as a Governor.
 

Alistair became Bursar at St Chad's in December 2016, following a career in finance and business which has included working for major companies such as Lloyds Bank and Shell as well as a six year stint as Stewardship Development Officer for the Diocese of Durham. Alistair's most recent role was a Regional Manager for Charity Bank in the North East. Outside of work Alistair chairs the North East Religious Learning & Resources Centre and was Chair of Prince Bishops Community Bank until December 2016. In his spare time, Alistair enjoys playing and watching a number of sports and spending time with his family.

Jonathan Moreland lives in Neville's Cross, Durham. He was a governor of St Chad's College from 1995 to 2005, and since then he has been in attendance at meetings in his capacity as College Solicitor.

Jonathan qualified as a solicitor in 1993 and is currently a partner with Swinburne LLP, a law form based in Aykley Heads, Durham City. He specialises in employment law and civil litigation, and provides legal advice to the College and Governing Body when appropriate.

Jonathan is married and has two seasons - his eldest is currently studying law at university and his youngest is due to sit his GCSEs in summer 2017.

Victoria joined St Chad’s College as Vice Principal in 2022 following 8 years as Deputy Principal at Van Mildert College. Victoria is a Durham University Natural Sciences graduate and holds a PhD, also from Durham, in Physical Geography. Her research has primarily been in the area of glacial geomorphology in both the UK and western Canadian Arctic.

At St Chad’s College Victoria has responsibilities relating to admissions, student support and the wider student experience. However, Victoria has a particular interest in widening access to higher education and is keen to develop the College’s portfolio of outreach and volunteering activities with community partners across Durham and the wider North East. She is also an accredited Sexual Violence Liaison Officer.

As Chaplain, David is available to all students and staff (regardless of religious or belief commitment) to discuss personal, spiritual and other matters in confidence. He is responsible for worship in the Chapel and is part of the pastoral support network in College.  As Outreach Officer, David works closely with Eleanor Spencer-Regan in developing partnerships with schools and to enable student volunteering opportunities, across the North East region and beyond.

David returned to St Chad’s as a member of staff in 2017 having arrived here as a Fresher in 1993! After further study at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, David was ordained in 1998 where he served in several roles in both London and Southwark Dioceses. The last 16 years of his career in London saw David working in several teaching hospitals in both South and North London. He has recently completeted some research on models of chaplaincy within the National Health Service and Universities.