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LSN Board Members
LSN's board provides a wide range of experience and expertise that supports LSN to promote excellence in learning and skills.
Our board members are:
Chris Hughes, CBE (Chair)
From 1998 to December 2004 Chris Hughes was the Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA). He was a college principal for 13 years and was appointed a specialist advisor to the House of Commons Education and Training Select Committee in 1997, and recently resumed that role with the current committee. He also contributed to the Sir Andrew Foster Review of the role of FE colleges and recently completed a review of quality and performance of the vocational education system in Northern Ireland . Chris was awarded a CBE in the 2005 New Years Honours list in recognition of his services to further education.
Mr Chris Blythe
Mr Chris Blythe is the Chief Executive and Institute Secretary of the Chartered Institute of Building. He has been involved in vocational education and training for the last 15 years. Between 1991 and 2000 he held senior posts at the Mid Cheshire Training and Enterprise Council, becoming its Chief Executive in 2000. He is also currently responsible for the management of the TrustMark initiative. His early career includes a number of financial roles in the private sector.
Mrs Kate Griffin
Mrs Kate Griffin has been Head of Greenford High School, Ealing, London since 1991. She was President of SHA between 2002-2003 and a board member of LSDA from 2002-2006. She is currently a member of the London Challenge Leadership Board and the DfES Headteachers Mathematics Reference Group. She is also President-elect of the International Confederation of Principals.
Mr Bill Stokoe
Mr Bill Stokoe is a governor of City Lit and was a member of the Foster Review Advisory Group. He was chair of Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College from 1991 to 2004. Bill had a career in banking that spanned 30 years and spent 12 years in investor relations.
Dr Ursula Howard
Dr Ursula Howard is the Director of the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC). She is the former Director of Research at LSDA and Director of the Learning and Skills Research Centre. She has been a specialist in adult literacy since 1974. During her career she has also held senior positions in teaching, research and was Vice-Principal of Kensington and Chelsea Further Education College .
Professor Michael Thorne
Professor Michael Thorne became Vice Chancellor at Anglia Ruskin University
in 2007 and was previously Vice Chancellor at the University of East London
since 2001. He has a first class honours degree in Pure Mathematics and a
PhD in Computational Group Theory.
He is the author, co-author and editor of a large number of books and academic papers, and has contributed to many television and radio programmes as well as being in high demand as a speaker. He is Chair of the Parliamentary Skills Commission’s enquiry into Information, Advice and Guidance, on the Board of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education and chairs the government's Advisory Committee on Libraries. In his spare time he conducts Wagner operas and other large scale musical works.
Ms Sharon White
Ms Sharon White. Sharon began her career in general personnel management, followed by management development and training in the aviation industry. She has worked at a senior level in TTC Training, a national work-based learning provider in the service sector, for the last 10 years. Sharon has been Director, TTC Training since 2004. Sharon is also a director of the Association of Learning Providers.
Christine Whatford
Christine Whatford started her career as a history teacher, before being appointed Headteacher of Abbey Wood School in 1983. In 1989, she was appointed as Director of Education of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, a post which she held until her retirement in 2002. In addition to her duties as Director of Education, she has been closely involved in a wide range of education initiatives and organisations, including the London Partnership, the Church Schools Review Group, the National Foundation for Education Research and the Public Management Policy Association. She currently chairs the UK UNESCO National Education Committee. In the Queen's Jubilee Birthday Honours, June 2002, Christine was awarded a CBE for her services to education
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