Governance

The Open University was established by Royal Charter in 1969 and is governed by two statutory bodies: the Council and the Senate. For detailed information about The Open University’s formal governance structure; please visit the OU website.

In addition, OUBS has appointed an International Advisory Board (IAB) which works closely with the Executive Dean and management team, in an advisory role, to provide international business and management expertise to support the delivery of our research and teaching.

International Advisory Board members

Maggie Miller

Chair of the International Advisory Board

Maggie is a global business technology leader and CIO with over 30 years of experience; she has a long and distinguished career in the technology sector in the UK and overseas.

Janice Bell

Independent Management Consultant

Janice is a passionate business leader with an MBA from the OU. An expert in business management and transformational change, she has strong links with a variety of major UK and international organisations.

Wayne Borg

Managing Director of Fox Studios Australia

Wayne is an accomplished and successful international executive with an unparalleled 20+ years of experience in leadership roles in the cultural and entertainment industries.

Sanjeeb Chaudhuri

Independent Director and Audit Committee member, Aditya Birla Group

Sanjeeb's current portfolio includes Retail, FinTech and Marketing Tech businesses. As well as Independent Director and Audit Committee member at Aditya Birla Group, he is a founder Director of Stab, a UK registered FinTech platform for real estate brokers.

Peter Cheese

Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Peter joined the CIPD as Chief Executive in July 2012. He spent 30 years working at Accenture, culminating in a 7 year spell as Global Managing Director leading the firm’s Talent and Organisation Performance Consulting Practice.

Andrew Craissati

Investor & Adviser

Andrew is a highly experienced investor and adviser. He operates across Europe and North America and with heavy experience of Asian markets.

James Crotty

Independent Non-Executive Director and Adviser

Following a career of almost 25 years with American Express James has recently taken on a number of board and advisory roles for a range of institutions in the financial services sector.

James Cullens

Executive Vice President, Human Resources, SNC-Lavalin

SNC-Lavalin of Canada is now one of the world’s largest infrastructure companies, following the acquisition of Atkins in 2017. Prior to this appointment, James was Group Human Resources Director at Hays Plc, The BOC Group, Linde AG, and PA Consulting Group.

Ann Francke

Chief Executive, Chartered Management Institute

As Chief Executive Officer of the CMI, Ann brings her extensive global general management experience to the IAB. She has a track record of developing people and delivering innovative strategies that result in sustainable growth.

Ron Jones

Executive Chairman of Tinopolis

Ron is the founder and Executive Chairman of Tinopolis, one of the largest independent television producers in Europe producing over 2000 hours of television annually.

Dr Julia Lane

Professor of Public Service at NYU Wagner

Dr. Julia Lane is a Professor at CUSP, and at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She also serves as a Provostial Fellow for Innovation Analytics and Senior Fellow at NYU’s GovLab. As part of the CUSP team, Dr. Lane works with the research team to build the CUSP Data User Facility.

Dr Arthur Langer

Professor at Columbia University

Dr. Arthur M. Langer is Professor of Professional Practice, Director of the Center for Technology Management, and Academic Director of Technology Programs at Columbia University. 

Bruce Lee

Senior Vice President IT Infrastructure and Operations for Centene Corporation

Centene is focused on providing government sponsored healthcare throughout the US and in international markets, including Spain and the UK. It is based in St Louis Missouri.

Jay O’Connor

Partner, Euler Partners

Jay is a Partner at Euler Partners and works with organisations on how they listen, connect and engage with stakeholders. She has advised global companies, start-ups, non-profit organisations and higher education institutions across a range of sectors.

Peter Wright

Executive Vice President, Global Network and International Card Services, American Express

Peter Wright leads three divisions within American Express’ Global Network and International Card Services division. He is the Head of Card Services for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and oversees the company’s consumer card-issuing businesses and merchant acquiring partnerships within this region.