New Governor Appointments for Birkbeck
The independent Governors will take up their roles from October 2020
Birkbeck is welcoming five new independent Governors this academic year. They will be joining the Governing Body, or “Governors”, which has responsibility for overseeing all matters relating to the College, determining its future direction and promoting the fulfilment of its mission, the advancement of its values and the potential of all its learners.
The new independent Governors have been appointed by Governors through the Nominations Committee and take up their appointments on 1 October 2020:
Nana Banton
Nana was appointed as an Independent Governor of Birkbeck College in 2020 and is currently Non-Executive Director on a number of other Boards, including Shepherd’s Bush Housing Group, where she co-chairs the Transformation Committee and is a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee. She brings many years of experience of business transformation, commercial strategy, change management, and organisational design, in complex public, private, and not-for-profit organisations; and is a graduate of Birkbeck and London Business School.
Rachel Neaman
Rachel is an influential technology leader specialising in digital transformation, leadership, health tech, skills and inclusion. She has extensive senior leadership experience in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors in the UK and internationally, including at the European Union, as the first Chief Digital Officer for the Department of Health, and as a CEO. She is now a business advisor and mentor to senior leaders and runs her own consultancy providing advice and coaching to Boards and executive teams on strategy, leadership and digital transformation. She is a Non-Executive Director of Checkit Plc and sits on the Board of the Campaign for Social Science, and on the Advisory Boards of DigitalHealth.London and Digital Leaders, of which she is a former Chair. Rachel is a frequent keynote speaker at UK and international conferences, has appeared regularly before parliamentary Select Committees, is a frequent judge of digital awards, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). She has featured in Computer Weekly’s annual list of Most Influential Women in IT since 2016.
Daniel Peltz
Daniel is CEO of London Freeholds Plc. He is an Honorary Fellow of King’s College and Birkbeck College. He sits on the King’s Campaign Board and is a Trustee of The National Gallery Foundation, The MCC Foundation, The Anna Freud Centre, The Warburg Institute and The City of London School Bursary Trust. Additionally, he is Governor of The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Oxford University and a panellist on the Education Panel of The Wolfson Foundation. In 2015 he was awarded the OBE for Philanthropic and Charitable services.
Duncan Sankey
Duncan is a former student of Birkbeck, having graduated with an MSc in Corporate Governance and Ethics in 2007. He has served as a co-opted member of the Audit Committee from 2018. Since 2003 he has been Head of Credit Research at Cheyne Capital Management, one of Europe’s leading alternative asset managers, where he was made a partner in 2008. Prior to joining Cheyne, he headed research for a range of investment banks, including Nomura International and Greenwich NatWest, before which he spent a number of years as a senior analyst with Moody’s Investors’ Service in New York and London. He began his career with Morgan Guaranty Trust in 1987. Duncan graduated from St. Edmund Hall, Oxford with an MA in Medieval and Modern Languages. In 2015 he co-authored ‘Opening Credit. A Practitioner’s Guide to Credit Investment’. He has served on the Education and Exams Committee of CFA UK and was a member of the London Centre for Corporate Governance and Ethics.
Andreas Utermann
Andreas is a British businessman, private investor and philanthropist. He was CEO and previously Co-Head of Allianz Global Investors, a global asset manager within Allianz’s asset management division, from January 2012 to December 2019; and continued as advisor to the firm until June 2020.
Chair of Governors, Sir Andrew Cahn said: “I am delighted to welcome the new Governors to Birkbeck. We are a unique institution and we search for special people to act voluntarily as Governors. This time we have found a diverse, talented and experienced group all of whom have a particular commitment to Birkbeck and our ideals. I welcome them warmly.”
Professor David Latchman, Vice-Chancellor, said: “Our Governors play a vital role in helping to steer our future direction, as well as making sure that we fulfil our mission and values. I am really pleased that we have appointed such high calibre independent governors. Our independent Governors give their time freely to support us and we are indebted to them for this. Our academic and student Governors take time away from their other duties and studies to support the running of the College and we are also thankful to them for the time they spend doing so. I look forward to working with all of our new governors in the new academic year.”
There are 21 Governors altogether, including independent, staff, student and alumni members. They meet towards the end of each term and consider student experiences and research developments, as well as proposals and reports from a framework of committees covering specific areas of activity including finance, human resources strategy, equality and diversity, and the College estate. Governors also have a termly report from Academic Board, covering education, research and international strategy developments, and every year they look further ahead at a special strategy meeting.
Further Information
For more information on Birkbeck's Governance and Committees, read here