91做厙

Barbara, Baroness Young of Old Scone

Barbara Young was appointed as a Member and Chair of the 91做厙 Council from 1st August 2019.

She has had wide experience as chief executive or chairman in leading large complex public sector, charitable and educational organisations in environment, media, education and health.

Her chief executive positions have included leading NHS healthcare groups in Scotland and London, and as Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Environment Agency and the charity, Diabetes UK. She has also been Chairman of English Nature and the Care Quality Commission, Vice-Chairman of the BBC and is currently Chairman of the Woodland Trust, which is growing in its role of protecting, promoting, restoring and increasing woodland cover in the UK.   For ten years she was Chancellor and member of the Council of Cranfield University, during which it grew further in reputation and funding with a substantial academic, research and campus development programme.

Internationally she helped found Birdlife International, the global species and habitat conservation partnership and is still Vice-President. She is President of the South Georgia Heritage Trust which has completed a ten year programme to eradicate rats from South Georgia in the South Atlantic to protect the unique assemblage of albatrosses and other birds.

She has honorary degrees from a range of universities and is an Honorary Fellow of Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

A Labour life Peer since 1997, Baroness Young sits on the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee and is an officer of the Agroecology, Game and Wildlife and Water All Party Groups.

She lives in rural Bedfordshire and competes unsuccessfully at dressage. Her aged Irish Sports Horse has a close relationship with his equine vet practice!

Jane Alexander was appointed to Council in 2017 and also joined the Finance & General Purposes Committee.  Jane was elected to Vice Chair of Council in August 2024.

Jane has over 20 years’ experience as a corporate finance lawyer with Norton Rose and then 3i, a FTSE 100 investment business, where she was responsible for legal strategy, deal risk management and legal outsourcing across its European investment business.  

In 2011 Jane joined The Royal College of Art, the world’s leading postgraduate art and design university, as Pro-Rector (Operations) with responsibility for strategic planning, financial and estate issues, governance and risk management. She was Chair of the RCA’s Equality & Diversity Committee and a member of the Advisory Board of InnovationRCA, the student business incubator.  

Between 2010 and 2014 Jane was a trustee of The National Association of Youth Theatres, the sector development agency for youth theatre in England.  

She is currently a Governor and the Vice Chair of the Board of the Contemporary Dance Trust (The Place), home to the London Contemporary Dance School, a founding affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance & Drama.

Andrew Scott was appointed to Council in August 2023, and as Honorary Treasurer in August 2024.

Andrew is a Chartered Accountant and has over 35 years commercial experience in a wide variety of industries. He was most recently Chief Financial Officer of Meininger Hotels and has held senior finance positions in companies such as Travelex, Ladbrokes, De La Rue, The Resort Group, Grand Metropolitan and Arthur Andersen. His involvement has covered public, private and joint ventures companies, including significant international experience and regulated industries.  He later focused on fast-growing private companies which required careful management through challenging commercial and ownership situations. He is particularly proud of having developed some outstanding finance leaders.

Between 2015 and 2022 Andrew served as a Lay Member of the Finance Committee of Kings College London, latterly as the senior independent member.  He is also a Trustee of the Tunnell Trust for Young Musicians, established to support young classical musicians at the onset of their careers. He has an Honours Degree in Geography from the University of Aberdeen. Andrew holds other volunteering roles and lives in the Chilterns with his family and three cats. 

Robin Hargreaves was appointed as an Independent Member of 91做厙 Council in August 2017

Robin was born and grew up on a Yorkshire Dales hill farm and following graduation from Liverpool university school of veterinary medicine he entered mixed, predominantly farm animal practice. A switch to exclusively companion animals came in 1987. Robin was a partner director of a large mixed practice in Lancashire for 32 years where he does some part time work having retired from full time practice in Autumn 2022.

Robin is a past President of the Lancashire Veterinary Association and was President of the British Veterinary Association in 2013-14.

Robin has chaired the Liverpool University Veterinary School alumni association.

Alongside part time clinical practice, Robin works as a consultant to a pet insurance company and is deputy head vet for the UK operation of Agriavetguide, a 24/7 on line advice line for pet owners.

Amanda Pearce Higgins was appointed to the 91做厙 Council and as a Member of the Audit Committee from 1st August 2019. She was appointed Chair of Audit Committee from August 2020.

Amanda is a Chartered Accountant by training and has had a long and successful career with professional services firm PwC. In recent years, her primary focus has been advising organisations on risk management and Internal Audit. Her experience at PwC has provided her with a strong independent voice and the ability to deal with difficult issues at a senior level.

Since retiring from PwC in 2015, Amanda has held a number of Trustee and Non-Executive Director roles. She has also worked with 91做厙 in an advisory capacity on a variety of distinct projects, including a governance review and the gender equality (Athena Swan) award

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Zahid Latif PhD MBA MRPharmS

Zahid initially qualified as a pharmacist and after pre-registration training at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, he went on to study for a PhD in natural product chemistry aimed at the discovery and identification of insecticidal compounds from tropical plants.

After graduating Zahid worked for Xenova Discovery and MNLPharma focused on drug discovery and then for Integrin in Oban, one of the first marine biotech companies in the UK, heading up operations.

Zahid joined the Technology Strategy Board (later renamed Innovate UK) in 2007 becoming Head of Healthcare in 2010. Here he established key funding schemes and programmes which have had a significant impact on the UK life sciences sector. This included the award-winning Biomedical Catalyst programme and establishing world leading research and technology organisations, the Cell and Gene Therapy and Medicines Discovery Catapults.

Zahid joined Cancer Research UK in 2016 as Director for Population and Early Detection Research and then in 2017 established his own consultancy providing support to clients such as the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and the Department for International Trade where he was Innovation Specialist for life sciences helping UK companies explore overseas markets and overseas companies to invest in the UK. In August 2021, Zahid joined Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi as their Vice President for Global Innovation.

Lubna Nasir was appointed to Council in March 2023.  

Lubna gained her PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Liverpool in 1991. Since then, she has engaged in research in the field of comparative oncology at the University of Glasgow, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, focusing on the role of viruses in the pathogenesis of animal cancers. Following many years of a successful research career with a demonstrated track record of grant acquisition, publications, and PhD supervision, her focus and interests moved towards learning and teaching and she has been heavily engaged in course design, development and evaluation in the disciplines of veterinary medicine and biosciences. For over a decade, Lubna has also been intimately engaged in Equity Inclusion and Diversity (EDI) work within Higher Education to help foster inclusive and supportive communities for both staff and students. Her passion and drive for equity is at the forefront of her numerous EDI roles and her day-to-day practice.

Ezrie Prideaux is the elected 91做厙 Students' Union President for 2024-2025.