Leaders in social enterprise, the arts, regional government and finance are to join the University Council as lay members of the University’s governing body.
The Council is chaired by Alastair Da Costa and has 23 members, including staff, student and lay (external) members to bring the fullest range of skills and experience to the governance of the University.
Stephanie Burras, Stuart Murphy, Liz Richards and Wallace Sampson will take up their appointments on 1 August. Professor Vanessa Kind (Head of the School of Education) will also join the Council, as an academic staff representative.
University Secretary and Registrar Jennifer Sewel said: “I am delighted to welcome to the University Council new members who bring a wealth of knowledge, skills and understanding and who will help us deliver our strategic aims and the effective governance of our University.
“The Council fulfils an essential role in ensuring the University's environmental and social governance, and its financial sustainability and wellbeing. We look forward to the positive impact that our new members will make with their diverse experience and existing connections to our community.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to lay Council members Leyla Okhai and Iain Moffatt and staff member Simon Kelley, who will be stepping down from Council at the end of their terms of appointment, later this month.”
The Council has a commitment to meet the obligations placed on the University as a charity, and as a body in receipt of public funds. Specific responsibilities include:
• corporate strategy, plans and budgets
• corporate policy and major business decisions
• establishing the framework for governance and management
• monitoring institutional and executive performance
The Council fulfils its responsibilities through Council committees including the Audit and Risk Committee, Strategy and Investment Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee, Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee, Remuneration Committee and the Ethics and Values Committee.
The new Council members include:
Stephanie Burras
After graduating from the University of Leeds, Stephanie qualified as a commercial solicitor and became a partner at Pinsent Masons. On leaving law in 2004, Stephanie set up the Ahead Partnership, a social enterprise working with local and national employers to deliver programmes aimed at supporting young people to achieve their full potential and addressing inequality.
Stephanie also served on the board of Leeds City Region LEP for seven years and served as Chair of the Employment Skills Panel. Stephanie has been a member of the international advisory board for the Leeds University Business School for the last ten years.
Stuart Murphy
Stuart grew up in Leeds. Most recently, he was CEO of the English National Opera, launching free tickets for under 21s and pioneering diversity and social mobility programmes.
Before that he launched and ran BBC3 then Sky Atlantic and oversaw all Sky’s entertainment output. He commissioned Gavin and Stacey, An Idiot Abroad, A League of their Own and Torchwood among others. He is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and has a CBE for services to opera.
Elizabeth (Liz) Richards
Liz’s career has spanned the financial, data and software sectors. Qualifying as a chartered accountant, she went on to become the Chief Financial Officer of credit reference agency Callcredit (now Transunion). She has undertaken various non-executive roles, including within higher education.
She is currently the Chair of the Audit Committee at both dotdigital and Tracsis, and the Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee at Yorkshire Cancer Research. Previously, she served for six years as a non-executive director of Leeds Trinity University, including as Chair of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Remuneration Committee.
As a languages graduate of the University of Leeds, Liz has remained an active member of the alumni community as part of the Leaders in Residence programme in the Leeds University Business School.
Wallace Sampson
Wallace has worked in local government for over 35 years, culminating in 15 years as Chief Executive of Harrogate Borough Council. Before this, he worked in a variety of roles at councils in Doncaster, Chesterfield, Kirklees and Bradford, where he was Strategic Director Customer Services and Assistant Chief Executive for Regeneration and the Environment.
Wallace also has experience as a trustee and non-executive director, as a former trustee of Saint Michael’s Hospice in Harrogate and, since 2020, as a non-executive director at the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust. Previously, he served as a trustee at the Harrogate Climate Change Coalition and as a director of two companies owned by Harrogate Borough Council.
Professor Vanessa Kind
Currently the Head of the School of Education, Vanessa has led the vision and strategy for the School since 2022. She began her career working first in research and then as a chemistry teacher.
Following her first academic appointment at the Institute of Education, now part of University College London, Vanessa went on to serve in a variety of academic and leadership roles at Durham University, including as Deputy Executive Dean, Postgraduate Education and Student Experience.
She has also held school governor roles in three state schools in Durham at various times since 2009 and was appointed as a representative of the Russell Group universities to the UCAS Council from 2023.
Further details
For more information, contact the University of Leeds press office via pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk.