Council - Independent Members

Baroness Elaine Murphy (Chair) After working as a doctor and academic in the NHS for 25 years, most recently as Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age at Guy’s Hospital, Baroness Murphy held the post of Chair of the North East London Strategic Health Authority 2002-2006 and became a cross-bench peer in May 2004.  Baroness Murphy takes a special interest in mental health and ageing issues in the House of Lords, she is a Vice-President of the Alzheimer’s Society, and a Non-Executive Director of Monitor, independent regulator of foundation trusts.
Mrs Naaz Coker Naaz Coker is Chair of St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and runs her own leadership development practice.From 1998 to 2006 she was Chair of the British Refugee Council, and her career spans 35 years in the public and voluntary sectors.She spent 20 years in the NHS followed by ten years as Director of the Race and Diversity programme at the King’s Fund.Mrs Coker has written widely on racism and ethnic health inequalities in the NHS, and the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in the West. In May 2003 she was awarded ‘Asian Woman of the Year’ by the Asian Guild and in June 2004, she won the Asian ‘Women of Achievement’ award in the public sector category.  Naaz Coker grew up in Tanzania and completed her University studies in the UK with degrees in Pharmacy, Pharmacology and later an MBA from the Open University Business School.She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science by Leeds Metropolitan University in July 2005.
Mr James Cochrane Mr James Cochrane brings a broad range of skills to SGUL. He serves on a number of boards as a non-executive Director and has experience in higher education, the NHS and the private sector. James was Chair of the South West London Strategic Health Authority (which merged into the large Pan-London Strategic Health Authority in July 2006). James is also Vice-Chairman of Avidex LtD and a member of the Board and Court of Governors at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. James has also worked for Wellcome Plc and Glaxo Wellcome Plc.
Ms Judith Evans Judith Evans was Corporate Personnel Director at Sainsbury’s (the first woman appointed at that level) and HR and IT Director on the board of Homebase.  There she led the HR and IT strands of the company’s corporate transformation and subsequent sale to a venture capitalist.  Previously at British Airways she was instrumental in transforming the company to become more customer focussed; developing and implementing the ‘Managing People First’ programme in the lead up to privatisation.  She was the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s Vice President for Equal Opportunities, and is now a Director of CIPD Enterprises.  Judith was a member of the Dearing Inquiry into Higher Education and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Wales for services to commerce and education.
Professor Ram Gidoomal Ram Gidoomal is an entrepreneur and former UK Chief Executive of a multinational business with seven thousand employees.He is a non-executive director of Epsom & St. Helier University NHS Trust, a lay member of the Advisory Council for Clinical Excellence Awards, Chair of The British Refugee Council, Henderson's Global Investors SRI Advisory Committee, The Employability Forum (helping refugees into jobs), Citylife (Industrial and Provident Society) Ltd, Winning Communications Partnership Ltd., South Asian Development Partnership and London Sustainability Exchange. He is President of the National Information Forum, a member of the Home Office Immigration Nationality Directorate (IND) Complaints Audit Committee, a Board Member of Think London and the Institute for Employment Studies, and a Freeman of the City of London. Ram is a governor of Kings College School, Wimbledon, a Crown Appointee of Court & Council, Imperial College and Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship & Inner City Regeneration at Middlesex University.
Mr David Greggains David Greggains is currently a Non-Executive Director of NHS Blood and Transplant, and an Independent Member and Vice-Chair of the Richmond upon Thames Council Standards Committee.  He is a qualified accountant with current and past membership of numerous Boards of Directors and Management, who spent many years as a management consultant working on organisational and structural issues in blue chip companies.  In 1995 David established the DSL Forum, the world cross-industry body developing standards for and promoting broadband communications.  He retired as Chief Operating Officer of the Forum in March 2006 as its first honorary lifetime member, in recognition of his services.
Professor Stephen Hill Professor Stephen Hill is Principal of Royal Holloway, University of London and was formerly Deputy Director of the LSE.  He is now Professor of Management after a period as Professor of Sociology.  Professor Hill is a member of the boards of Higher Education South East, the Surrey Economic Partnership and Surrey Bridges, and a member of the Inclusion Committee of the South East England Development Agency.He was chair of Southern Universities Management Services between 2003 and 2006.His research interests include economic sociology, the future of work and corporate social responsibility.He edited British Journal of Sociology between 1996 and 2002.
Ms Isabel Nisbet Ms Isabel Nisbet is Director of Regulation  and Standards at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.  Isabel brings to SGUL a wealth of experence in the regulation of both postgraduate and undergraduate medical education, together with an understanding of the requirements of public governance gained from senior posts in Government departments.  Notably Isabel has worked at the General Medical council (GMC) both as Director of Policy and Director of Fitness to Practice.  More recently she was Interim Chief Executive of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB).
Professor Sir Peter Scott Peter Scott is Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University in London and was formerly a Professor of Education at the University of Leeds.  He has also worked as a journalist.  His most recent book (with Helga Nowotny and Michael Gibbons) is 'Re-thinking Science: Knowledge and Public in an Age of Uncertainty', which has been translated into French and German.  He is also a member of the Board of the HIgher Education Funding Council for England and his other major resarch interest is the development of higher education systems.  He is a member of the Academia Europea.
Professor Richard Smith Richard Smith is Chief Executive of UnitedHealth Europe, a subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group that works with public health systems in Europe. A member of the board of the Public Library of Science, he is also a Visiting Professor at the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine. Previously he was editor of the British Medical Journal and Chief Executive of the BMJ Publishing Group.Having qualified in medicine in Edinburgh, he worked in hospitals in Scotland and New Zealand before joining the BMJ. He also worked for six years as a television doctor with the BBC and TV-AM, and has a degree in Management Science from the Stanford Business School.
Professor Peter Rigby Professor Peter Rigby has been Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research since 1999, and is Professor of Developmental Biology at The University of London. He is a molecular biologist with expertise in gene regulation and was previously Head of the Genes and Cellular Controls Group and of the Division of Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics at the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research.Professor Rigby is a Non-Executive Director of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and is currently Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Beatson Institute of Cancer Research, Glasgow; a member of the Board of Directors of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; a member of the National Council; and Chairman of the Medical Research Committee of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.
Mr Colin Stanbridge Mr Colin Stanbridge is the Chief Executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an appointment he took up in 2002. Prior to joining the Chamber, Colin was Managing Director of Carlton Broadcasting, the London weekday ITV Company from 1996, and before this he worked for the BBC for nearly twenty years. During this time Colin produced a range of programmes including ‘Midweek’ ‘Tonight’, ‘Nationwide’, and ‘Breakfast Time’, and held editorial roles on ‘Newsnight’, ‘Breakfast Time’, ‘This Week, Next Week’ and ‘Newsroom South East’.He left the BBC as Head of Centre, South East, where he headed up all regional television and the output of five local radio stations.Colin is a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Television Society.
Mr Graham Turner Graham Turner is Non Executive Chairman of Croydon Tramtrack Limited. His previous executive position was as Chairman of the Rydon Group, a construction and development company he started with two partners in 1976. The company was sold to its management in 2006. Graham is a governor of Ardingly College and he will shortly stand down as a governor at the University of Brighton, where he has served since 1998. He was also a Director of Brighton Festival Limited between 2003 and 2006.One of his sons is a newly qualified doctor, and his first grandson was born at St. George’s Hospital in Tooting.
SD 29 October 2007