People and Remuneration Committee

Professor Elwen Evans, KC, is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and the UWTSD Group, a dual sector structure comprising Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion as constituent colleges.   

Professor Evans read Law at Girton College, Cambridge, graduating with a double first: M.A. (Cantab). On graduating she attended the Inns of Court School of Law and was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1980. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002.  

Professor Evans has enjoyed a very successful career as a barrister, choosing to practice mainly in Wales. She has undertaken a wide range of legal work, specialising in criminal law at trial and appellate levels. She sits as a Crown Court Recorder having been appointed in 2001. She was Head of Iscoed Chambers for over 15 years prior.  

In 2015 she was appointed Head of the College of Law & Criminology at Swansea where she was responsible for establishing the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law.  In 2020, she was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and is credited with having led the successful growth of the Faculty during this period. 

She has served on a wide range of external bodies and committees reflecting her areas of professional experience and interest including as a Board Member of Advance HE, The Law Commission Welsh Committee, Legal Wales, The Lord Chancellor’s standing committee for the Welsh Language; Wales & Chester Circuit; Joint Tribunal of the Bar Council; Gender working monitoring group for the Crown Prosecution Service; Gray’s Inn Election Committee; Court User’s Committee; Local School Governor; Elfed Trust; accredited advocacy trainer and trainer of trainers. 

A native Welsh speaker, she is a Bencher of her Inn, has been honoured by Gorsedd y Beirdd for her services to Law in Wales and was a Commissioner on the Commission on Justice in Wales. In 2018, she was included in the top 10 of a list celebrating 100 of Wales’ most inspirational women. 

Professor Mark E. Smith is the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton.  As President and Vice-Chancellor he is the Chief Executive of the University and has overall responsibility for its operations.  He took up this role on 1 October 2019. Professor Smith was Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster University from January 2012 until September 2019.  He was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick.

Throughout his academic career, he has published more than 380 papers about advanced magnetic resonance techniques, helping to understand a range of problems in the field of materials physics.  He is currently a member of the executive group overseeing the National High Field Solid-State NMR Facility at the University of Warwick.

In addition to his role as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, he holds a number of external appointments including Senior Independent Member of UKRI EPSRC’s Council; and board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, chairing their Research Wales Committee. He also chairs UKRI’s Financial Sustainability of Research Group and was the former Chair of the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) 2016-2022. He has also served on the Boards of Jisc, HESA and HESCU.

He was awarded a CBE for Services to Research and Higher Education in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Paul joined the Board in 2021 and became Chair of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee in 2024.

Paul is an independent consultant and non-executive director in the education sector. He previously built and ran the education consulting practice of PA Consulting internationally. His experience is in delivering major programmes to define strategy, improve academic outcomes, deliver better services, and reduce cost. He has worked extensively with governments, regulators and funding bodies in the education sector in the UK and elsewhere and has worked with more than 30 universities.

He is Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors at De Montfort University, a trustee of the British Council and a Non Executive Director of the Education and Skills Funding Agency. He is a writer and speaker on the challenges of achieving change in universities.

Paul graduated from Durham University with a BA (Hons) in Economics and then qualified as a chartered accountant. He has worked as a consultant, programme leader and change manager in a range of organisations particularly in the public sector.

Professor David Mba joined Birmingham City University in October 2023 as Vice-Chancellor (VC). David’s role is to lead and develop the strategic vision and aspirations of the University. David has led the development of the University’s Strategy for 2030 and Beyond and works with the University Executive Team to ensure the delivery of its strategic ambitions. The VC is accountable to the Chair and Governing Body for all aspects of the University’s activities.

Before joining BCU, David was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise at the University of the Arts London (UAL). Prior to this, he was Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise, at De Montfort University (DMU), Leicester. Whilst at DMU he also held the post of Pro Vice-Chancellor/Dean for the Faculty of Computing, Engineering, and Media. He has held several other senior positions at universities including Dean of Engineering at London South Bank University, and Associate Dean at Cranfield University’s School of Engineering. 

David studied Aerospace Engineering and completed a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Cranfield University, for which he was awarded the Lord King Norton Gold Medal for the most outstanding doctoral thesis.

David’s research has been funded via numerous commercial, EU and EPSRC projects and he has published more than 300 journal and conference papers. 

David is chair of the Birmingham Cultural Compact, co-chair of the Black Leaders in HE network, and a member of the Advance HE Board. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Julie Ashworth is the Chair of the University of Aberdeen and Chair of the Institute of Directors (IOD) Edinburgh.