Sue chairs the Cultural Compact for the West of England and has developed a Cultural Strategy and Strategic Plan supported by the unitary and regional authorities alongside Arts Council England.
Sue has a background as an academic palaeontologist, and has a national profile in learning and teaching. She sits on the Board of the Quality Assurance Agency and recently led a project to revise the credit framework for England, which is the base-code for degree design.
She is a strong advocate for creativity in education and sits on the boards of Project Trust and An Tobar & Mull Theatre. She Chairs the Board of Trustees of Student Minds, a national charity focussed on student mental health and wellbeing.
Sue is an honorary fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and an honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh.