Tim is Associate Editor of Blueprint, the UK’s leading magazine of Architecture and Design.  As well as writing for a host of other publications including Wired, New Statesman and GQ Style, he is also editing a book on collaboration between architects and other professionals, published by Birkhauser. He used to be Theatre Critic for the Sunday Herald and edit the Guardian Guide to the Edinburgh Festivals.

Virginia joined Pfizer in March 2008 to take a lead on innovation policy for Pfizer in the UK. Before joining Pfizer, she was an academic at Imperial College Business School working on innovation strategy and collaborative practice. Virginia has held posts at a number of universities, including a lectureship at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, and a post-doc at the London Business School.

Siân manages the Wellcome Trust’s International Engagement Awards for public engagement in science projects within the developing world. She started out her career in public engagement in science as an explainer in the galleries of London’s Science Museum before moving on to the Natural History Museum where she worked as a presenter and host of ‘Nature Live’ events. She has also worked with Nesta’s Science Year and answered the public’s science questions over the phone for Science Line and has an MSc in Sustainable Development. Siân has a particular interest in young people’s empowerment and has a love for Latin America. In her free time Siân likes to run marathons, play beach football and have picnics on Brighton beach.

Dario Alessi was born in France, went to school in Brussels and studied for a BSc and PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham and at the National Institute of Medical Research, London. After performing postdoctoral research for six years in Philip Cohen’s laboratory in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit (MRC-PPU) at the University of Dundee, in 1997 Dario was appointed Principal Investigator at the MRC-PPU. His work focuses on the molecular details of how insulin and other signalling molecules exert their physiological effects and on how to exploit these observations to develop novel treatments for disease. He has been awarded numerous international awards and honours and in 2008 was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.

Gill worked in what are now called ‘the creative industries’ for some 15 years before becoming an academic. She now teaches and writes about media and cultural history and policy at the University of Glamorgan’s School of Creative and Cultural Industries in Cardiff.

Before his role as Director of Research at the ESRC, Adrian has previously been Head of Politics, Economics and Geography and a Director of Corporate Policy. Before the ESRC he worked for the then Department of Employment and the Manpower Services Commission. He holds a degree in economics from the University of Cambridge, is married with two sons, and is a keen supporter of Derby County F.C.

Anita presents ‘The Daily Politics’ on BBC 2 and ‘Drive’ on BBC Radio 5 Live. Prior to joining the BBC she was the head of News and Current Affairs for Zee TV in Europe. A passionate debater in her youth, she was the winner of the national final of the English Speaking Union public speaking competition.

After an initial career in biochemistry, George opted for a complete change of direction and spent the following 30 years in sales and marketing. Another major change of direction became possible when he was fortunate enough to be able to retire early, thus providing the opportunity to devote much more of his time to a long term passion, Scotland’s system of care and justice for children and young people, the Children’s Hearings System. Having served two terms of office as Chair of the Children’s Panel Chairmen’s Group, George retains a keen and active interest in matters relating to the overall welfare and wellbeing of young people.

Sheila worked as an environmental scientist for 25 years, mainly studying seal behaviour and ecology. She specialised in communicating science to wide audiences; gaining extensive experience in TV, radio and the printed word. She became Head of Communications for the Natural Environment Research Council, retiring recently after 13 years.

Ian went to school at Ivybridge Community College in Devon. He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, then moved to Birmingham for his PhD. He is now is an academic, studying social cognition: how this develops in children and how these cognitive functions are processed in the brain.

Alfonso Aragon-Salamanca studied Astrophysics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and obtained a PhD from Durham University in 1991. He stayed in Durham as a Postdoctoral Researcher until 1993. He then worked as a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge until 1999. After that he joined the University of Nottingham as a Lecturer, becoming Professor of Astronomy in 2009.

Kate’s main activity at the moment is setting strategic direction for the British Council’s global arts programme. Last year she programmed a festival of Indian writing in London, followed by a programme of work to strengthen cultural relations between India and the UK through reading and writing. She previously worked for the British Council in Vietnam, Mexico and Brussels, and before that at the Foreign Policy Centre in London. She enjoys walking, reading, live music and interesting conversations.

Frankie has been a journalist, columnist and newspaper editor for over 15 years, publishing over 400 newspaper articles throughout that time.In 1995 he won the Best News Reporter award in Ghana. He was the acting General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary of Ghana Journalists Association for four years and and has been a public relations and media consultant since 1999 and also holds an MA in International Journalism from Cardiff University. Frankie is currently an Associate Lecturer and a Ph.D. Student at the School of European Studies, Cardiff University, researching on Multi-Level Bargaining and the Europeanisation of Regional Policy.

Sherry Ashworth’s novels include Disconnected, Paralysed and Blinded by the Light. She used to teach English in secondary schools, but now lectures in English and Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.  She also broadcasts occasionally for the BBC and gives freelance writing workshops.  She lives in Manchester, and is married with two daughters, two sons-in-law and two cats. 

Parminder was previously Executive Editor of Times Online and has been a journalist for 14 years, covering a variety of beats at The Times and Financial Times. Before becoming a journalist, Parminder was a development economist. He also goes on electoral observation missions for the Organisation for Security and Development in Europe (OSCE).

secondary school teacher

Kasia graduated from University College Utrecht, with a major in social sciences and a minor in science. She went on to study psychology at the University of Edinburgh and VU University Amsterdam, and is interested in how social processes and events affect people’s health. She spent the spring semester of 2009 at Duke University in the USA, looking at the association between being a victim of racism and subsequent drinking, and is currently working as a research assistant for the Medical Research Council, examining the impact of social policies on health.

Sarah is a member of the Marketing team at Talis Information Ltd, providing research, analysis and commentary on Higher Education – covering trends and developments in the sector generally, and academic libraries and learning technologies specifically. To communicate this information, Sarah uses both traditional channels such as newsletters, and newer technologies such as blogs, Twitter and podcasting. Sarah’s professional background spans both IT systems and librarianship, and her first degree was in Modern Languages and Politics.

Roy was born in Widnes at some point in the 1960’s. Upon leaving school it was envisaged that Roy would, as his father and brother had done, enter the world of engineering. However it soon became apparent that Roy had as much chance of becoming an engineer as Vanessa Feltz had of becoming a successful daytime TV host! Eventually Roy found his way into DJ-ing. One day a friend mentioned that a local radio station was looking for a front man to host their summer road shows. Roy attended an audition and was promptly given the job. After many years in the industry, Roy realised that ‘Talk Radio’ was where he wanted to be, and his desire to do more in this field of broadcasting has brought him to City Talk. Roy can be heard on- air in the early hours of the morning weekdays between 2-6am.

Will is a former Northern Editor of the Press Association who wrote a weekly column in the Liverpool Echo for four years.  He is now a producer and presenter on City Talk 105.9 – you can hear him every day between 2 and 3pm on his Take 5 show.  He has just started a new weekly sports column for a newspaper in the United Arab emirates!

David is an epidemiologist who’s broad research focus is to understand how psychological, biological, behavioural, and social factors influence the risk of cardiovascular disease, selected cancers and mental illness - with the ultimate aim of this body of research being disease prevention. He is currently a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow based principally in the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, but also the multi-agency-funded Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh. David teaches on various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the UK and abroad.

Philippa started life as a scientist, working in developmental biology and neuroscience, before moving in to science education and then public engagement with science.  She now works across Bristol University to help staff share their research and teaching with wider audiences – the public, media, schools and teachers and policymakers.

Kevin’s research interests include theories of nationalism and national identity, the emerging post–Good Friday polity in Northern Ireland and the politics of Irish Republicanism. He has written on the peace process in a variety of magazines, newspapers, and books as well contributing to radio and television discussions on these issues. His latest book is ‘The New Politics of Sinn Féin’.

Mark (or ‘Monty’ as he’s known to his friends) was almost born on two wheels. Aged 12 he cycled across Scotland from Dundee to Oban. Two years later he bought his first road bike and then aged 15 did the classic ‘End to End’ journey, riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats. After high school he then helped raise £50,000 for the Erskine Hospital by cycling the 1,334 miles from Sicily to Innsbruck in Austria up the length of Italy. During university, however, Mark started to get an itch for ‘a big one’ and you can’t get much bigger than circumnavigating the globe! After graduating, he went to work for a few months but the thought wouldn’t go away. So despite people telling him that he’d need longer than six months to plan and train for something of this size, he left his job and threw himself into it. Luckily, everything fell into place and with a great team behind him (including sports scientists, nutritionists and the BBC!) he eventually set off from Paris on 05 August 2007. All in all, Mark travelled 18,000 miles and toppled the existing record of 276 days by 82 days.

Sean is the secretary and a founding member of The Brighton Salon, an independent organisation dedicated to the live, free and public discussion of everything that matters, now in its fourth year of intervention in the public sphere. Sean is also a part-time journalist who previously reported for local newspapers and worked on the production of Computing and Campaign magazines, and a part-time School Crossing Patrol Officer (lollipop man) for Brighton and Hove City Council.

Linda was the first Black woman to join the Spare Rib feminist collective in 1981. She was vice-chair of the campaign to select Black candidates within the Labour Party. She was elected Leader of Lambeth Council in 1986, one of the first Black women to gain such a position. As chair of the London Strategic Policy Unit in the mid 1980’s, Linda introduced Black History Month, an annual event that is now celebrated across the UK. She was an Co-Chair of the LGBT Advisory group to the Metropolitan Police.  Linda retains an active involvement in the voluntary and community sector which ensures that her work remains relevant and valid to grassroots communities. In 2007 she was awarded an OBE for services to diversity.

Simon runs his own IT Consultancy, Simply Better IT, specialising in helping small businesses get the most from IT. With a background in the civil service and then the international outsourcing world, he now prefers the scope offered by small business environments to deliver full and worthwhile end-to-end solutions. Born and brought up in Yorkshire, he moved to Lancashire on a civilising mission some 25 years ago. After some success there, he’s moved on to sunny Derbyshire where he’s now based. By way of ensuring some engaging debate in the north, he helps coordinate the Manchester Salon discussion forum.

After a career in the theatre, Wayne studied fine art and art history at Camberwell School of Art and then Goldsmiths’ College, London, where he was also President of the Student’s Union. He then worked for the Contemporary Art Society and later in leisure management. Wayne has been leading Dillington House for nearly 18 years and spends nearly all of his free time doing archaeological research in this country and abroad. 

Jay is a writer and English student at Oxford. She was Foyles’ Young Poet of the year in 2005 and her first collection was The Poetry Book Society’s pamphlet choice for summer 2008. She is currently working with Apples and Snakes and the Arts Council as poet in residence on an allotment and will be performing at the Latitude Festival in the summer.

As well as his role as Visiting Professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Simon is also Chairman of the BioQuarter. He is a serial entrepreneur who built three biotechnology ventures as founding CEO between 1991 and 2005: Zeneca Plant Science, Roslin BioMed and Ardana. He is currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence at TVM Capital, Chairman of the Advisory Board of PAR Equity and a non-Executive Director of Polytherics Ltd, Ohmedics Ltd, the International Potato Centre (CIP), Targeted Growth Inc and Entelos Inc. Simon is Vice-Chairman of the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), previous Chairman of the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) 2006-7, and Vice-Chairman of BIO 1994-6. 

As part of his role at Pfizer Ltd, Chris focuses much of his time studying and interpreting the NHS and sharing this knowledge within the company. By doing this he helps align business strategies to the needs and pressures the NHS faces currently and in the future. A registered pharmacist, Chris began his career in the NHS as a resident pharmacist at a large London hospital, and after a brief period within a leading oncology hospital Chris joined Pfizer. He is married to his wife Natalie and has two children, Eva and Lucas.

Stephen was Finance Director of British Energy Group plc (the FTSE 100 electricity generator) until the completion of its £12.5bn sale to EDF. Previously he was Finance Director of WS Atkins plc, the UK’s largest engineering and design consultancy. Stephen has also held finance roles in Balfour Beatty plc, Severn Trent plc and British Telecom plc. He is currently a non executive director of Urenco Ltd. Stephen studied Economics and Government at Brunel University and holds a PhD in Accounting and Finance from Aston University. He is a member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Helen is the resources and communications manager for Debating Matters, the competition’s alumni coordinator and also project coordinator for the Global Uncertainties Schools Network . Helen is also a committee member of the Battle of Ideas, a weekend festival of debate organised by the Institute of Ideas, and is producing and chairing a session on assisted dying this year. Helen completed a Masters course in Intellectual and Cultural History at the University of London in September 2005.

(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Helen.

After graduating in English, Gill’s career began in insurance, before heading up the professional development department of an international professional body.  Moving into arts management, she managed the re-branding of Theatre Is… the young people’s theatre organisation.  She was appointed Regional Director of Arts & Business for the East of England in November 2006. Arts & Business connects companies and individuals to cultural organisations and provides the expertise and insight for their relationships to prosper.

Rena trained teacher both at the secondary level and in higher education, and her current teaching responsibilities include courses in animal health and welfare and the anatomy & physiology of animals. Her research interest is in the biological control of insect pests, and she has a general interest in the effect of students’ perceptions and expectations on their academic performance.

As an architect developer John has worked on creating real buildings and places where community is paramount; with contemporary treatment of local materials. He runs a grant making charitable trust using professional volunteers to assist small charities make the best use of their resources; and contributes to the wide debate on the use of charitable funds. At a local level he is active in trying to forge sustainable developments against the backdrop of excessive legislation that thwart many of our endeavours. A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

David competed in Debating Matters in its pilot year of 2003/04. Since then he has maintained an active role in the competition as a chair, judge, and author of several Topic Guides, as well as assisting with and producing sessions at the Battle of Ideas since its inception in 2005.

After completing an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Exeter in 2008, David joined the Institute of Ideas & Debating Matters as a full-time staff member, balancing being a core organiser of the Battle of Ideas alongside coordinating Qualifying Rounds for the 2008/09 competition. He also had a key role in the Aimhigher Plymouth showcase and took full responsibility for organising the Northern Ireland Showcase events in February 2009. David has recently returned from a four-month internship in Brussels, working for Libertas in their pan-European election campaign, where he got to work alongside stagiares from across the EU27 and some the world’s most influential election campaigners. He is a co-founder of the Institute of Ideas’ Current Affairs Forum and chief poetry writer for Culture Wars, the IoI’s online review.

Stephen has a PhD in political theory and is currently writing a book on suffering and subjectivity. His most recent publication is on Cartesian Dualism in medicine, he has written widely on medical ethics and has a research interest in the dangers of ‘healthy living.’

Michele has a BA in Psychology from Queen’s University at Kingston, Canada and an MBA from York University, Toronto, Canada. She has been a member of staff at Leicester since 2005. Before that, she was a faculty member at the University of Manitoba where she taught Strategy, Power and Politics, Leadership and Research Methods to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Michele’s research interests lie in the area of critical management studies, in particular, gender, sexuality and diversity in the workplace. Recent areas of exploration include leadership, consumption and online communities.

David is Head of English Language at De Montfort University, where he has worked since 1993. Between 1990 and 1993 he was Head of Methodology and English Language Teaching at Lulliang University in The People’s Republic of China (his Chinese is of an intermediate level!). Specialist areas in teaching, learning and assessment include the Lexical Approach in English Language Teaching and the usage of formal English in academic texts. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Iain has been a lecturer in bioethics at Manchester University since 2006 and he has previously taught at Keele, Birmingham, and Warwick (a bit).  He’s also had stints as a barman and a lorry driver.  His research interests are varied; he has published on a range of topics from genetically engineered children to artificial wombs to euthanasia to whether there’s a duty to conduct scientific research. Since the autumn of 2008, Iain has been a contributor to, and an editor of, the Journal of Medical Ethics’ blog: you can see him bang on at http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics

Tony has been Chief Executive at the Citizenship Foundation, the education and participation charity, since September 2001. He is widely published and sits on a range of national policy bodies, forums and advisory groups and works extensively with various government departments and statutory agencies on issues as varied as community cohesion, youth participation, political engagement, qualifications reform and citizenship education.  He is currently working with a range of organisations to develop a National Campaign for Public Speaking, an initiative that will be formally launched later this year.  Although committed to an intolerance of underachievement, Tony was a season ticket holder at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for seventeen years and remains an avid supporter.

Justine Brian loves good food and hates food snobbery. She learned to cook at Westminster College, and fantasises about giving up the rat race to sell high-class cupcakes. For her, the contemporary debate about food confuses the creative and adventurous impulse to try to make better food with a manipulative attempt to use food as a tool of social engineering in areas as diverse as health, parenting and ‘ethical’ living. When not thinking about, reading about or eating food, she is the National Administrator of the Institute of Ideas and Pfizer Debating Matters Competition, an innovative and engaging new style of debating competition for sixth form students in the UK.

(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Justine.

Charles has been a teacher in West Yorkshire secondary schools for nearly thirty years.  He has taught English, RE, Philosophy and General Studies and was Head of RE and General Studies. He is married to a social worker, with whom he has two grown-up children. He enjoys travelling, reading, art and debating. Charles has some published journalism to his name, mainly on education and the EU and politics is a subject by which he is endlessly fascinated.

Kath studied for a degree in Sociology/Social Policy at L.S.E. at the end of the 1960’s and completed a Master’s degree at Salford University in 1986. She taught AL Sociology, BTEC National Diploma and Access courses in Further Education colleges for 30 years.  She developed a large community education programme before moving to Staffordshire County Council as a District Manager for Community Learning. Kath retired in 2006 but has remained a Governor at a high school in South Staffordshire.

Jennie Bristow is a journalist whose writing focuses on parenting issues and intergenerational relations. She was part of the launch team of the website spiked, for which she now writes the monthly ‘Guide to Subversive Parenting’. She has recently launched the website Parents With Attitude.com. Bristow is author of Maybe I do? Marriage and Commitment in Singleton Society (2002), and several essays on love, intimacy and the politics of the family. In 2008 she co-authored, with Frank Furedi, a high profile report on the impact of the national vetting scheme, titled Licensed to Hug: How child protection policies are poisoning the relationship between the generations and damaging the voluntary sector.

Charlotte has worked in the internet and digital marketing industries for the past 12 years with roles from senior project manager, Internet Shopping for ASDA in 1997 to managing the on-line strategies for Mercedes Benz, Alliance and Leicester, O2 and first direct. She was one of the founders of Pollenation Internet, an open source technology company and negotiated a final sale of the company in 2008. Since then she has set up a small consultancy which specialises in digital marketing strategies focusing on how companies can make the most of the social web. She is the Chair of the Institute of Directors, Young Directors Forum, Yorkshire and Humber. She also sits on the Common Purpose Advisory Group, Leeds.

MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole since 2001, Annette is currently the Shadow Spokesperson for Children, Schools and Families for the Lib Dems and has particular interest in early years education, special educational needs and child protection issues. Annette is an ambassador for the NSPCC and is also interested in micro finance and micro credit, having close links with several charities which aim to improve women’s lives in developing countries through microfinance. She recently travelled to India to see some of the work achieved with these organisations. Annette is married with two adult daughters and a grand-daughter.

Educated at Cambridge, Kerry worked in Japan and Australia before completing a post graduate diploma in mandarin Chinese and living in Inner Mongolia, China from 1994 to 1996. He then joined the Foreign Office and served in London and Beijing, before joining Chatham House in 2005. Kerry is the author of four books on China, including Friends and Enemies, The Past, Present and Future of the Communist Party of China. Find out more about his work here.

Wes is a 23 year old writer and editor based in Leeds. His poetry and prose has appeared in numerous journals and publications including Route Compendium, Aesthetica and Culture Wars. He is the General Editor of Cadaverine Magazine and his debut novel, Shark, will be published next year.

An academic working in Applied Ethics, Alixe is Advisor to the Defence and Security Group. She is also the Parliamentary Researcher (Defence), for Baroness Park of Monmouth, House of Lords. 

Jennie has had a long and varied career. After finishing a history degree from Kings College London, Jennie taught a variety of subjects at secondary schools in both London and Jamaica, before becoming a welfare officer in a Wandsworth school, where she stayed for seven years. After this Jennie’s career took a new turn and she became and actor and dancer, which she has continued to do to this day.  Jennie is now also working as a Supervising Interviewer for the National Centre for Social Research. She has also enjoyed a political career, serving as a Canterbury City Councillor from 1999-2003, and as Sheriff of Canterbury from 2000-2001. Jennie is also currently Chairman of the Kent branch of Equity, the performance artists union.

After retiring in 1993 from the Electricity Supply Industry, Roy became both a Borough and Kent County Councillor positions he holds to this day. His particular interests lie in Planning policy and Development Control and in Transport Strategy and Highways issues.

Tristan was recently appointed as an Inspiring Young Scientists Co-ordinator at Norwich BioScience Institutes. His academic career began in Scotland studying experimental pathology, clinical pharmacology and a PhD in Biochemistry at the National CJD Surveillance unit in Edinburgh before moving south.  Following a post-doctoral position he explored education, settling on a PGCE in Secondary Science at Durham University followed by a variety of teaching and lecturing positions.

Born 1954 in Sussex and brought up in Sussex and Berkshire, Melvin did poorly at school but got a job as a trainee journjalist when he left, which he packed in after six months.  He did a variety of jobs after that including bricklayer, marbeller and being one of the idle poor.  His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990 and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.  Melvin’s book Junk won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children’s ficiton prize.  Bloodtide shared the Northern Children’s book award for 1997; and Doing It, Melvin’s book on young male sexual culture, won the LA Young People’s Book of the Year and was adapted for American TV as Life As We Know It.  His latest book is Nicholas Dane, set in a an abusive care home in 1980’s Manchester.

Susan has been a secondary science teacher and teacher educator at the University of Strathclyde. Currently she continues to work with student teachers, writes and provides science Continued Professional Development. She is interested in the public understanding of science and ran a project working with schools and universities in Scotland, and is an active member of Association for Science Education, where she was UK national chair in 2003/04.

Tom works for the BBC in Bristol. He’s currently the producer of the Politics Show West. Before that he was a reporter on Points West and before that worked on Radio Bristol. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bristol Uni.

Jim is the author or two books and numerous papers and articles on tourism and the environment. He has written for the THES, spiked and has appeared on TV and radio commenting on the tourism industry and its critics. Jim is a defender of mass tourism and a critic of the inflated claims made for eco-alternatives. He is a Fellow of the RSA, and Chairman of a local football team.

Carlos is a lecturer in Architectural Informatics at the School of Architecture at Newcastle University. He has a graduate degree and integrated MSc in Civil Engineering and a PhD in applied computing.  Over the past ten years Carlos has developed a research career working in three areas: human computer interaction, information modelling and advanced visualisation techniques. He has been a research fellow at Virtual System Laboratory, Gifu University, Japan, University of Paris 2, and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, USA. Prior to his involvement in academia Carlos worked for engineering and consultancies firms both in Spain and the UK.

After a degree in Zoology and a PhD in pharmacology, Bob has spent most of his working life in Biomedical Science publishing.  He has worked as copy editor for a veterinary/nursing/medical publisher, then compiling technical dictionaries (one for vets and one for health professionals), then commissioning new books, academic journals and electronic products/websites in biology.  He now works for the Royal College of Physicians in London editing examination questions for hospital consultants.  His hobbies include playing guitar in North Kent pubs and speaking and writing on science in society.

Bill Carmichael joined the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield in February 2005 as course leader for the MA web journalism course. He studied history at King’s College, Cambridge before working as a reporter, industry correspondent, sub editor and news editor on a number of newspapers, culminating with an 11-year stint as news editor of the Yorkshire Post. After helping establish the websites in the Yorkshire Post group of newspapers, he joined the Press Association as Digital Production Editor. He writes a column for the Yorkshire Post and provides editorial services to the Press Association.

Alongside 20 years as a marketing adviser to technology firms, Jeremy has maintained an interest in the history of ideas kindled by reading Darwin as a student. He is also a writer and occasional journalist.

Tony was an undergraduate at the University of East Anglia and a PhD student at Sussex University. He started work in the MRC Cell Mutation Unit studying DNA repair in the model organism fission yeast. The Cell Mutation Unit evolved into the Genome Damage and Stability Centre and is part of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Sussex. Tony is now the academic Director of the Centre. He studies the pathways and molecules that are involved in maintaining genomic stability, which is important to prevent cancer.

Andrew has worked in BBC Radio for 25 years.  He is now responsible for the editorial and creative direction of all of speech radio and classical music on digital platforms including the web, mobile and podcasting.  He runs the websites for Radios 3, 4, 5live and 7 as well as projects such as ‘A History of the World’ and the Proms.  His broadcasting career began as the Breakfast Presenter at BBC Radio Merseyside.  He served as a duty editor on Radio 4’s Today programme and PM before spending 10 years as commissioning editor for factual programmes at Radio 4.  As such he commissioned Arts, Science, Documentaries, Natural History, Religion and Sport, as well as debate strands such as ‘Any Questions?’ and ‘The Moral Maze’.  Andrew has won 2 Sony Radio Academy Awards.  He lives in London and is married with 2 children.  He is a school governor and a trustee of a number of charities.  His leisure interests include all sports, travel and theatre.

Rebecca is studying Classics at the University of Manchester and would to teach English as a foreign language and act as an educational tour guide. Rebecca was a member of the winning team at the 2007 National Final; Queen Elizabeth’s Sixth form College in Darlington. She enjoys reading classical literature and mythology. Rebecca plays the clarinet and has been a member of various musical groups and orchestras.

After completing his degree at the University of Birmingham, John worked in telecommunications and operational and commercial management. He spent several years in the Arabian Gulf before returning to England. John served ten years as an elected representative on Birmingham City Council before retiring in 2004.

Andrew has worked with the Alzheimer’s Society for the last eight years. He has been responsible for developing campaigns and lobbying government in relation to issues such as access to drug treatments, mental capacity legislation, the development of a national dementia strategy and charging for care. Andrew has also worked for the Department of Health and in advising the NHS and social care services about improving quality of life for people with dementia and carers.

Chris’ brief at Blackburn Cathedral is theological education, with a special emphasis in inter-faith dialogue. He joined the cathedral staff in 2005, having previously served at St. George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa, and at Westminster Abbey.

Ian is a education consultant advising national, regional and local agencies on educational change for a digital world. He was previously Director of the South Yorkshire e-Learning Programme, and has worked for a range of organisations developing and delivering e-learning including the Open University and National College for School Leadership, and as a civil servant designing national training and skill programmes. He has a doctorate in Philosophy, in which he has lectured for both the OU and the University of Sheffield. He lives in Sheffield with his wife and teenage daughter.

Simon Clark is director of the smokers’ lobby group Forest and founder of The Free Society. Born in London, he was educated at Madras College, St Andrews, and Aberdeen University. He returned to London for his first job - in public relations.  Simon was previously the director of the Media Monitoring Unit, a London-based research group founded by a former Labour minister, Lord Chalfont, and Dr Julian Lewis, who is now Conservative MP for New Forest West, and as a freelance journalist also edited a string of in-house magazines, the most recent of which was The Politico for Politico’s Bookshop in Westminster. In 2007 he founded The Free Society which he launched to give a voice to those who want less not more government interference in their daily lives.

Clare left school last year having completed A’ levels in Politics, Economics and Maths. She began working as Participation Manager for the Convention on Modern Liberty, a project set up to defend freedoms and democratic self-interest in the UK. Claire is now the Co-ordinator for Real Change: the open politics network, a group pressing for parliamentary reform and a renewal of democracy.

David was educated at Edinburgh University and Harvard Business School. He worked with Goldman Sachs in New York and London, and thereafter was Managing Director of a UK private textile group and then a director of Alexon Group PLC. In 1993 he joined Perot Systems Corporation where he held a number of roles, ultimately as Chairman of Perot Systems, Europe and India. He left in 2005 to establish a private equity investment group in India focusing on real estate, and is currently Chairman of F&C REIT India, its joint venture companies in India and a partner in a private investment fund. David also serves on the Boards of a number of NGO’s.

An experienced designer, illustrator and art director on both agency and client side, Richard has a background in corporate and consumer design for blue-chip companies. Milestone specializes in brand communication and brand language looking into the ways an organization communicates with both its internal and external audiences, and Richard has pioneered Milestone’s involvement in the arts and leisure industries. He is also a Director with the Green Organisation - an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental
best practice around the world.

Neil is currently Chief Theatre Critic of The Herald, and also writes about music for Plan B and The List, and for visual arts magazine, Map. He writes the Made in Scotland music blog at the New York-based Zoom In Online and has also written for The Wire, The Times, The Independent, Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Sunday Herald.

Adam’s current research looks at how people evaluate arguments and evidence, the communication of climate change, and the public understanding of emerging areas of science such as nanotechnology and geoengineering. He works with the Climate Outreach and Information Network, and writes for the Guardian about the psychology of climate change.  His doctoral research formed part of a wider program of work aimed at developing a rational theory of argument strength, so he is very interested in argument and debate!

John trained in Organic Chemistry at Sydney and Australian National Universities and came to the UK in 1971 for post-doctoral research. He joined the MRC in Edinburgh in 1976 and transferred to NIMR in 2006, where his research was focused on development of small-molecule tools to probe aspects of rapid biological processes, particularly muscle contraction and nerve transmission. His lifetime output is represented by approx. 145 published papers and several granted patents, three of which are licensed to bioscience companies and result in significant wealth generation.

As well as his role as Research and Editorial Director at the Institute of Ideas (IoI), he edits the IoI’s reviews website, Culture Wars. Dolan’s interests lie in the relationship between ideas and politics, the role of the intellectual, ideology, and religion in public life. He is especially interested in the question of intellectual authority and how it is contested. Dolan firmly believes that politics should start from the needs and passions of the public, and that this puts a premium on open debate and free speech. Most recently he has edited a collection of essays, Debating Humanism by contributors to the Battle of Ideas 2005.

His interest in the role of intellectuals builds on Ideas, Intellectuals and the Public, a conference he organised in 2003. He edited a collection of essays on this subject for a special issue of the academic journal Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP). This is also available as a book, The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual. Dolan also contributed a chapter on ‘Think Tanks and Intellectual Authority outside the University: Information Technocracy or Republic of Letters?’ to the book Participating in the Knowledge Society (Palgrave, 2005).

As editor of Culture Wars, Dolan writes about books, films and theatre. Having developed the Round Table Rumbles theatre debates at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2001-2004 and at the National Theatre in London in 2005, he continues to organise regular arts discussions through the Culture Wars Forum. He appears regularly on radio and television as a commentator on the above issues. He is currently involved in initiating the Manifesto Club, a project aimed at developing a new progressive politics.

Emma is an arts education specialist, currently managing the learning and participation programme at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. Her other clients have included Chetham’s School of Music, Cheshire Dance and various arts festivals.Until recently she was a module tutor in the Music Department at The University of Huddersfield and also delivered an outreach and participation programme for the same department. The remainder of her time is taken up by performing and teaching the bassoon for Bolton Music Service.

Jenny has been a community paediatrician in Glasgow for 25 years and specialises in neurodisability and autism spectrum disorders. She is a member of the Scottish youth research charity Generation Youth Issues.

Peter was born and raised in Belfast where he co-wrote an acclaimed satirical revue And now before the Weather, The War, which toured the country to good notices and terrible threats. After studying Politics and Theatre Studies, he travelled the USA working on funfairs, before moving to London to make bespoke office furniture for ten years. A recession in the building trade saw him reduced to retraining as a BBC reporter before going on to present the drive time show on BBC Greater London Radio. Peter presented When Art Went Pop on BBC2, fronted Culture Fix, a 40-part arts and culture series for BBC Knowledge, the media show Wired World for Channel 4, the investigative series Education USA, and for Radio 4 Deep in The Heart of Texas, which was described by the Radio Times as “the most perfectly peculiar documentary of the year”. He also wrote and presented The Big Picture, a film programme which championed the burgeoning World Cinema scene. His own small production company, Yodelay, made the radio documentary Changing Colours, about Britain’s ethnic pioneers. He lives in East Sussex with one wife, two children and - like everyone else with a basic grasp of English - he’s writing a musical.

Will began working in education as an A-level lecturer in the South West, teaching on programmes in Philosophy and Sociology. After completing his doctorate, which examined learning cultures in 16-19 education, he taught on the PGCE for lecturers in the post-compulsory sector.  In 2006, he moved to Leicester with his young family and took up his current position. At present he teaches Philosophy of Education and radical/innovative approaches to schooling. His current research focuses on higher education in Finland and he has just completed an undergraduate text exploring learning in contemporary culture. 

Rob is a qualified accountant with nearly twenty years private sector experience in companies such as Thomas Cook, Black & Decker and Siemens. He joined eaga plc three years ago as Divisional Finance Director and helped the company float onto the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 250 in June 2007. Rob moved on to be the Managing Director of eaga’s insulation business in the North of England & Wales before recently taking up the role of New Business Operations Director. He is very happily married with two young and lively children who help to keep his feet firmly on the ground!

Irenee’s work looks at women’s understanding of issues relating to their fertility, and how this knowledge impacts on their decision making to start a family. She is also interested in how the media communicates to the public advances in science and technologies, especially reproductive technologies. Before starting her PhD, Irenee completed an MPhil in Social and Developmental Psychology at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (Cambridge). She also has an MSc in Developmental Psychopathology from Durham University and a BA (Hons) from Trinity College Dublin. Her broader academic interests are in gender, reproductive technologies, public understanding of science and medicine and bioethics. Before coming to Cambridge, her work had a very different focus in the area of adolescent depression, self-harm and suicide, and she worked for many years with this population.

Sarah completed her PhD in English Literature at the University of Warwick and worked for a number of years as a lecturer and researcher in higher education. Her specialist interest is in the transactions between literature and forensic science. More recently she has worked as an education consultant, focused on e-learning, and has established an organisation called Rural Learning which taps technology to provide educational opportunities for rurally isolated young people.

freelance writer

Marcus was appointed Chief Executive of The Roundhouse Trust in 1999, where he oversaw and managed the £30m redevelopment of the Roundhouse into a world-class performing space and state-of-the-art creative centre for young people (Roundhouse Studios). He was also appointed Artistic Director in 2008.

Teresa obtained a degree in Politics and Philosophy at The University of York before studying law and qualifying as a solicitor in 1999. Originally from Edinburgh, she trained and worked in Leeds before moving abroad for two years to Bermuda, where she also worked as a lawyer. Teresa returned to the UK four years ago and joined Dickinson Dees LLP, where she works in the family law team and she loves living and working in the North East. Outside of work Teresa enjoys time with friends and family, architecture and design and travel.

Simon Davies is an MA student in History and Politics at Birkbeck College in London and a previous participant in the Debating Matters Competition. His area of focus is in civil society and political Islam and has experience working for one of only two counter-extremism think tanks based in London.

As a features writer, Rowenna specialises in social and political affairs, and has written opinion pieces for the Times Higher Education Supplement and Guardian Education. She is also a regular contributor to the New Internationalist, YoungMinds and Community Care Magazines.

Robert is an award-winning television producer and journalist, specialising in cultural affairs. He is currently web editor of stv.tv, and also writes theatre criticism for The Times.

A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and national committee member of the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Gary is the author or editor of a dozen books, the latest being ‘Literary Criticism: A New History’. His new book, to be published next year, is the ‘Continuum Guide to Eighteenth Century Literature and Culture’. He is at present writing a new book on modernism and is also the TV critic for ‘The Higher’ magazine.

In his role at the University of the West of Scotland Alex is interested in labour flexibility, non-standard employment and the impact of globalisation through FDI and labour market adjustment. In this area Alex has a just completed an ESRC-funded project with David Bailey and colleagues on the economic and social impact of the demise of MG Rover at Longbridge, and is also interested in public sector workforce issues and policy. He recently completed an ESRC-funded study on ‘An Assessment of the Nature and Consequences of Agency Work for Professional Public Services: The Case of Health and Social Care’.He has published numerous articles in both these areas; including single and co-authored pieces in leading international journals and has undertaken media interviews in recent years. Alex is keen to promote research findings to the wider community and contribute to ongoing debates.

Daniel was born in south London and grew up both there and in East Sussex. After at studying Lambeth College, he completed degrees in Political Science at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Louise joined the NCA as Director in December 2006.  She is responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation, working across the arts and political sectors to take a constructive lead on issues that matter to the arts constituency. Her duties also include briefing the media, politicians, doing the accounts and making the tea!  The NCA works to protect and promote the arts across the UK. It lobbies government, produces research and briefings to help raise the profile of the arts and has recently published its Manifesto for the Arts which sets out a vision for the sector and its contribution to the UK.

Suzy was a member of the Queens’ School, Bushey team who won the original Debating Matters National Final event at Tate Britain in 2004. Suzy is now a writer and journalist and regularly contributes to a number of publications, including spiked and Open Democracy, on the subject of democracy. This includes issues around participation; from the compulsory vote to youth engagement, and her work has been particularly focused on the point at which encouraging participation becomes coercive. Suzy also writes on constitutional reform and has contributed to discussions around the forthcoming Bill of Rights, the Lisbon Treaty, and the prospects of engagement with local government. She is a member of the Battle of Ideas Committee and co-organiser of the Institute of Ideas Current Affairs Forum.

Ashley joined eaga in 2008 to lead national sales, customer services and field operations heating enterprise specialising in the government contract ‘Warm Front’ work, social housing and green biased heating solutions. He has a background of general management, business growth, acquisition and sale in UK, North American and German markets, having held a number of senior management positions in financial services, utility, and services related industries.

Prince Charles described Barry in 2006 as “an inspiring business leader with drive” when he appointed him as his Ambassador for Business In The Community’s Eastern Region.  Originally a journalist, Barry has had 40 years experience (21 as managing director), in the world of newspapers, magazines, radio and internet with Archant and Emap. At one time he was Emap’s youngest ever managing director.  Barry runs his own business and media consultancy. He is also President of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and a Non Exec Director with the Norfolk & Waveney Mental Health Foundation Trust and Pike Textiles of Wisbech.

Neil produces and presents the Little atoms show which broadcasts weekly on London’s Resonance FM. Little Atoms is a live chat show featuring guests from the worlds of science, journalism, politics, academia, human rights or the arts in conversation, and which argues for the rehabilitation of the ideas of the Enlightenment.

Shirley is Communications Director for the Institute of Ideas, the Battle of Ideas and development editor of Culture Wars, the reviews website of the Institute of Ideas. She writes a blog at the Guardian Unlimited Arts blog and co-produced the Battle for New Technologies, as well as several other debates, at the Battle of Ideas 2007.

Shirley researched the editorial and bibliographic history of William Blake’s works for her PhD, and co-authored a book on the subject with Jason Whittaker, Radical Blake: afterlife and influence from 1827. She is writing an essay on the critic and editor Anne Gilchrist for the collection Women Read William Blake: ‘Opposition is True Friendship’.

Previously, Shirley was assistant editor of the New Humanist magazine, and Head of Communications at the Policy Studies Institute.

Rosanna is currently undertaking a degree in Classical Studies at the University of Manchester. She hopes to go on to work in museum and arts education. Rosanna says of her Debating Matters experience: “I believe that Debating Matters has given me the confidence to speak in public and has shown me that having self-belief is vital in achieving your goals. Debating Matters has forced me to look objectively at subjects which I feel strongly about and has shown me how important it is to think creatively and independently.”

Stuart’s main research interest is pain, especially pain that occurs without disease or injury. His current work is supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council and he has published widely in scientific and medical journals including the Lancet and the BMJ. He has also published on a wide variety of topics including fetal pain, AIDS, global warming and the economy and he is regularly quoted in the press, on the radio and on TV.

Rebecca is a pharmacology graduate from Dundee University with a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Cambridge University. Following this, Rebecca spent 4 years as a post doc at Cardiff University specialising in behavioural neuroscience after which she joined the Pharmaceutical Industry.  Rebecca spent 6 years at Merck Sharp & Dohme in the UK as a Research Fellow combining her expertise in the cognition field with drug discovery across a variety of neuroscience targets and projects.  Subsequently Rebecca moved to Copenhagen in Denmark and spent 3 years at Lundbeck as the Head of the Psychopharmacology Department with a focus on cognition research within schizophrenia.  Rebecca joined Pfizer in April 2008 as an Associate Director to lead the in vivo group in determining the functional consequences of CNS modulation of stem cell fate.

Matt has worked in education for 19 years including 12 as a teacher.  He writes and delivers training for national organisations, local authorities, schools and teachers focusing on how they can challenge and support bright students in everyday learning. Most of his work can be described as Narrowing the Gap – focusing on raising the aspirations and achievement of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In his spare time he is a real person with 3 children and almost permanent sleep deprivation.

Dominic has taught and researched at the University of Liverpool since 1970.  During this time he has always been concerned with the crucial importance of communication in science. In 2000, following 30 years of research in magnetism, he set up the Science Communication Unit to conduct research into science communication and deliver science outreach projects to a wide range of audiences. He is now formally retired but continues to deliver presentations to school and other audiences under the banner of BIG BANG! Science Entertainment.

John was born and educated in Glasgow, has lived in and around Leeds for 15 years and has two teenage children (son and daughter). John was Lecturer at the University of Leeds, then Professor of Philosophy at Sheffield before returning to take up the equivalent position at Leeds in 2007. John is author of Possible Worlds (Routledge, 2002) and among his favourite things are: French cinema, jazz, having a novel on the go, and Celtic FC.

Alastair is an urban designer, researcher and writer. As an urban planning consultant he has worked within the private and public sectors including as a master planning advisor for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. He’s currently undertaking a post graduate research on the diversity, specialisation and integration of metropolitan regions. Alastair is a regular contributor to Urban Design, and has also written for Blueprint and Building Design. He is co-editor of The Future of Community: Reports of a Death Greatly Exaggerated (Pluto Press, 2008)

Professor Peter Donnelly FRS, FMedSci, is Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics and Professor of Statistical Science at the University of Oxford. He grew up in Australia before moving to the UK as a doctoral student. Prior to his appointment in Oxford he held academic posts at the Universities of Michigan, Wales, London, and Chicago. His early work was in applied probability, in developing mathematical models for real-world phenomena involving randomness. More recently, his research has focused on genetics. He played a major role in the HapMap project, an international collaboration that followed the Human Genome Project in studying genetic diversity in worldwide populations. He currently chairs the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC), a collaboration of over 200 UK scientists studying the genetics of 12 common human diseases, and its successor (WTCCC2). Other research interests include human population structure and histories, bacterial variation, and human recombination. Peter is a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences.

A graduate of Newcastle University, where he studied politics, Ed’s career in journalism started with freelance shifts on local papers in West London before he took his first staff job on the lesser known business-to-business paper Heating and Ventilating News in 2000. In 2002, Ed joined The Architects’ Journal as a reporter, rising to news editor in 2004. In 2008, after a brief break running New Media Age, a weekly trade magazine, he was appointed to the news editorship of the TES, a national weekly newspaper for teachers and the wider education community.

Stuart has worked for Syngenta for 24 years. His training is as a neuroscientist and he now leads a team looking at how new agrochemicals work. Stuart also edits ‘Science Matters’, the company’s science magazine. Syngenta is the world’s largest agribusiness, researching into new crop protection chemistries, seeds, vegetables and flowers.

As well as his role as Head of the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art, Anthony is also a partner in the design studio Dunne & Raby, which specialises in using design to support debate about the social impact of future technologies.

In his role at Canterbury Christ Church University Georges contributes to a range of undergraduate courses. He is also Director of Research Governance & Postgraduate Studies for the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences. Georges was the initiator of an Erasmus/Socrates Network of twelve universities in countries which include Italy, France, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Germany, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Austria and Portugal.

Kimble was educated at Caterham School, Surrey. He trained as a journalist in the 1970’s, working and editing a number of regional and national titles. In 1988 he was appointed Chairman of Argus Newspapers, and was a principal in the £200m management buyout of Argus Press Group, the international newspaper, book, and magazine publisher based in the UK and US. He chaired the group’s UK newspaper and specialist magazine interests, and led the sale of the business in 1993. For the last fifteen years he has advised financial institutions and other investors on start-ups, acquisitions, and disposals. He has held a number of marketing and editorial positions in the legal, consumer, and business-to-business fields. He founded, owns and edits Independent Schools Magazine; Britain’s events website www.WhereCanWeGo.com; and a boutique travel business specialising in reader offers. He is married with two children.

Wendy has been involved in education for many years – as a teacher and a publisher - and now she is overseeing online development of education outreach at the British Film Institute. She is also undertaking a doctorate at the Institute of Education, because she likes a bit of a challenge.

Kathryn Ecclestone is Professor of Education and Social Inclusion, in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham. Before moving into higher education in 1992, Kathryn worked for 20 years in further and adult education.  Her research explores the ways in which education policy affects teachers’ and students’ ideas about education, and the teaching and assessment practices they take part in.  Her current research focuses on the rise of personal development, social skills and well-being and how these are changing subject-based knowledge and the purposes of education.  Kathryn has published numerous books and articles, and spoken at conferences and seminars around these areas of interest.  Her most recent and controversial book, is ‘The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education’ co-authored with Dennis Hayes .

As a museum curator and community activist, Nat has worked in Museums, Galleries and Archives for 20 years – developing exhibitions, education and community-based projects as well as major capital projects. In the early 1990s, with initiatives such as Glasgow’s Open Museum, he worked to challenge the boundaries of museum curatorship and the roles that museums play in communities – bringing Barlinnie inmates into the stores of Kelvingrove to curate exhibitions and taking historic collections into swimming pools and soup kitchens. More recently, he has been working to reimagine what an archive should look like, spearheading the National Library’s acquisition and interpretation of the John Murray Archive – which contains many of the biggest ideas of the nineteenth century. Last year, he published ‘Caledonia’s Last Stand: In Search of the Lost Scots of Darien’, looking at Scotland’s disastrous Darien Scheme.

Mark graduated from Guy’s Hospital, London in 1987 with degrees in Experimental Pathology and Medicine and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.  He has 17 years of experience in industrial medicinal R&D, mainly at Pfizer’s European R&D headquarters in Sandwich, Kent, which included the clinical directorship of drug development teams to successful product approval. He is now Director of R&D Public Affairs at Pfizer where his principal interest is to identify and develop new ideas for bioscience R&D enterprise and partnership between the public and private sectors.  As such he represents Pfizer as well as the pharmaceutical industry in a range of activities in the external scientific environment.  These include membership of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry’s Innovation Board, the Medical Research Council’s Pharma Forum and Training and Careers Group, Surrey University’s Faculty of Health Sciences External Advisory Board and the Royal Society’s Equality and Diversity Advisory Network.  He is also a Non-Executive Director of South East Health Technologies Alliance Ltd.

Liesl manages Edinburgh University’s 32-member fundraising and alumni relations team, and shares responsibility for the successful execution of the University’s £350 million Enlightenment Campaign.

Paula’s earlier involvement with Debating Matters has been as a teacher - coaching and mentoring the debating team from Kings Norton Sixth Form Centre in South Birmingham. Her experience of working with Debating Matters has informed her current work with teachers and pupils in schools throughout the city. She is an occasional contributor to The Stirrer, a news and comment based website covering “Birmingham, the Black Country and Beyond”. Her interests include cultural and social history – and she really enjoys reading well-written biographies of historical figures.

David, whose latest venture Sparrowhawk Media was recently acquired by NBC Universal for £175m, has spent over forty years in the media industry. He spent four years as Producer of ITV’s This Week, six years as Director of Programmes at Thames TV, four years as Head of Programming at BSkyB, five years as the Chairman of the National Film and Television School and four years as CEO of Channel 5, which he launched and led to a valuation on his departure of over £1 billion. As well as chairing DCD Media plc, David also chairs Screen Digest, Luther Pendragon Holdings, the British Screen Advisory Council and the Broadcasting Policy Group (which wrote a seminal report on the future of the BBC for the Conservative Party). He is also a board member of NTL Inc (US), Escaline S.a.r.l (Luxembourg) and Hardt Group UK. He is a visiting professor at Stirling University, and was previously a visiting professor at Westminster University and Oxford University.

Margaret is the Vice Chair of South Wales Baptist College; the Chair of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff Stakeholder Forum Appointments Panel; a trustee of the National Dance Company Wales and a member, Cardiff School of Art and Design Advisory Panel.

Gillian is the author of Educational Failure and Working Class White Children in Britain. The book caused a controversy when it was published in 2006 because it brought the ongoing significance of social class to the foreground of debate at a time when the politics of class had become something of a taboo subject in Britain. Continuing to influence debate about the contemporary position of the white working classes in 21st Century Britain, Gillian is a regular contributor to television and radio debate. Her specialism is in the anthropology of child development and the anthropology of education and learning. She continues to expand on her interests in the post-industrial landscape of social class in Britain and is currently undertaking a major research project on the regeneration associated with the lead up to London Olympics 2012 in the East End of London.

Lucy is the author of ‘If Minds Had Toes’, a novel about philosophy which has been translated into ten languages. Before becoming a writer, Lucy worked in radio and television, and as an economist.

David graduated from the drawing and painting department of Glasgow school of Art (1986). He spent the first few years after art school in a band, the Wild River Apples, which was signed by Chrysalis Records in 1989.  In 1996 he completed a post-graduate qualification in community education and then went on to work as a community worker in Motherwell. In 1999 he began working in the Scottish Parliament and is now working part time for the local MSP. In 2003 David was elected to North Lanarkshire Council, and is currently the vice chair of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. His interests include, transport, arts and culture and challenging irrational thought.

Craig was the winner of the Best Individual award at the Debating Matters National Final 2006. Since then he’s been involved in the competition as a judge and chairperson on numerous occasions, and is currently working as Debating Matters Assistant in London. He graduated with a BSc in Physics from the University of St Andrews in 2009 and continues to have a strong interest in science, working on a number of relevant projects. He spoke at a session on space exploration and chaired a session on science education at the Battle of Ideas 2009, and has also contributed an essay to the Institute of Ideas publication What is science education for?

Anne heads up a network of senior executives who specialise in stability and turning around the performance of companies in financial distress. Through its network of over 1000 individuals, Anne helps develop business on behalf of her employer, the professional services firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. A key part of Anne’s role is communication, and so she is strongly supportive of the benefits that debating competitions bring. She trained as a Chartered Accountant in Scotland and was a lecturer at Strathclyde Business School and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in the 1990’s. She joined an executive search firm, Lomond Consulting, in 2000, as Managing Director in Scotland before being invited by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2006 to join the firm. Anne has 3 children and lives between London and Edinburgh.

Michael is a GP in Hackney, London and has a longstanding interest in politics, the history of ideas and the contemporary attacks on reason, science and rationality. He regularly contributes to spiked and writes for the Lancet and a variety of medical publications. Recent publications include The Tyranny of Health: Doctors and the Regulation of Lifestyle, a topical and controversial discussion of the dangers of the explosion of health awareness for both patients and doctors. In the light of Michael’s day-to-day experience as a practising GP, he questions the current crusade of government to improve public health, and the consequent increase in the level of state intervention in every aspect of people’s lives. He is also author of MMR and Autism, an explanation of why he believes the anti-MMR campaign is misguided, with the aim of both reassuring parents considering vaccination, and also relieving the continued anxieties of parents of autistic children.

Since qualifying as a solicitor with Dickinson Dees in September 2002, Ged has worked in the firm’s Commercial Disputes Group. He specializes in contractual disputes, professional negligence cases, partnership disputes and high value debt recovery work. He has acted on behalf of a wide range of businesses and private individuals.

Liam is a freelance journalist and broadcaster. He spent more than 20 years with the BBC TV and BBC Radio as an Editor, Producer and news correspondent. He now runs an independent media production company – Intense Media – and lectures in Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire. He is also chair of “A Mayor for Liverpool,” an independent group campaigning for the city to have London-style directly-elected Mayor

Stephanie is a Project Manager in the Education team at the Wellcome Trust. This role includes supporting professionals working with young people in formal and informal settings and currently involves managing the Trust’s Darwin 200 activities for secondary schools.

George is committed to enthusing young people about education and science in particular.  He retired from being a Health Authority Chief Executive twelve years ago and founded his education company, which has grown to supply 11,000 places a year on specialist courses for more able students.  He is currently leading a team of consultants with AQA/City and Guilds on development of the new Diploma in Science and is an Education advisor to the Singapore Science Centre and Ministry of Technology. 

Eliot was born in the North East of England and has lived and worked in both the UK and USA. He is a graduate from the University of Liverpool, where he gained a PhD in Neurophysiology and has a MBA from Henley Management College. Eliot has more than 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry, having worked at both Glaxo and Pfizer before coming to Solace, who develop innovative treatments for pain. He is a non-executive director to Oxford Biotherapeutics and Atlantic Healthcare, an advisor to the UKTI Life Sciences Strategy Board and also works with universities in support of their enterprise activities.Eliot has three children, some chickens, bees, several sheep and active interests in running, politics of innovation, food and Canterbury beer (Wantsum Brewery).

During a long career in education, Voula has lectured, run an arts centre and been a Head of Department in two comprehensive schools. At the moment she lectures in voice care and presentation skills to all subject groups, as well as running workshops using drama to teach all subjects from English, Maths and Science to History, Geography and RE. She also offers workshops to staff in schools and universities in the North East.

Ann is a communication specialist with over 20 years in public relations. She has been responsible for the promotion of a number of high profile consumer campaigns, including the launch and management of Tesco Computer for Schools. She is also on the board of Mountview Drama School.

Simon lives in north London and is currently working as a science teacher. He also talks on a variety of subjects, such as climate change, astronomy and astronautics, helping audiences of all ages to understand how science impacts upon their daily lives. Simon studied Physics with Space Science at the University of Southampton and stayed on to undertake a PhD in Solar-terrestrial Physics. In May 2009 he took part in NESTA FameLab, a national competition aiming to discover the next generation of science communicators. He won the London heat and came third in the National final. As NESTA FameLab 2009 runner-up Simon won the chance to present his own 3-Minute Wonder on Channel 4.

Claire Fox is the director of the Institute of Ideas (IoI), which she established to create a public space where ideas can be contested without constraint. Claire initiated the IoI while co-publisher of the controversial and ground-breaking current affairs journal LM magazine (formerly Living Marxism). The IoI has since worked with a variety of prestigious institutions in Britain and abroad.

Claire has a particular interest in education and social issues such as crime and mental health. She is highly critical of authoritarian developments such as New Labour’s ‘antisocial behaviour orders’. She is also a passionate supporter of the arts, and strongly believes that they should be valued for their own sake. She argues that efforts to dilute the arts for the benefit of ‘the socially excluded’ are patronising rather than democratic.

Claire convenes the yearly Battle of Ideas festival, which will next take place in London in November 2008. She is a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze and is regularly invited to comment on developments in culture, education and the media on TV and radio programmes such as Question Time, Any Questions?, and BBC Breakfast. Claire writes regularly for national newspapers and a range of specialist journals. She has a monthly column in the MJ (municipal journal) and presented ‘Claire Fox News’ on the internet TV channel 18 Doughty Street.

Claire previously worked as a mental health social worker and as a lecturer in English literature. She was a judge on the panel for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2006 (download her speech given to the 2006 Orange Prize Libraries Seminar) and features in the ‘Who’s Who’ almanac 2007. Claire was number 64 in Time Out’s 2006 London Movers and Shakers list, and was named the capital’s No.3 activist. Claire also features in the Telegraph’s list of Britain’s 100 most influential people on the Left.

Fiona is the Science Media Centre’s founding director, holding this position since its inception in 2002. Fiona has a degree in Journalism and 15 years experience in media relations. She held the position of Senior Press Officer for the Equal Opportunities Commission for six years, followed by two years running the media operation at the National Council for One Parent Families. A total change of environment followed as Fiona became Head of Media at CAFOD, one of the UK’s leading aid agencies. She founded the Jubilee 2000 press group, which helped to force serious Third World issues onto the media and political agendas. Fiona is an experienced public speaker and a trained journalist, who has written extensively for newspapers and publications, authored several policy papers and contributed to books on humanitarian aid.

Ruth is Head of Press for Nature Publishing Group. She and her team coordinate publicity for Nature, the Nature research journals and other journals in the Nature Publishing Group family. She works with journalists, press officers and researchers around the world to maximise the impact of published research. Prior to this role, she has publicised science and medical research for King’s College London and was in the Press and PR team at Cancer Research UK.

Sheila stared her career providing technical support for physiology and neurosciences departments in further and higher education across Edinburgh. Since then she has gained a Certificate in Social Science, with a special interest in Scottish Politics, Equalities and Scottish Law. She established her own business, Sheila Fraser Associates, in 1999, and the company expanded in 2007, focusing on training trainers and organisational development. For the last 8 years, Sheila has worked for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), and now works part time for them assisting the sector to access rural funding. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers & Commerce (RSA).

Ashley is a PhD student at the University of Kent in the School of Social Policy Sociology and Social Research. Her area of interest is in therapy culture and the sociology of emotion and more specifically her research concerns the new politics of ‘happiness’ and ‘well-being’, particularly as it relates to education in the UK. Ashley also teaches various seminars on the Sociology of Mental Health and Illness and the Sociology of Work.

Simon has been director of the Edinburgh Science Festival for more than ten years. In this role he creates and programmes events, something he and his team find highly rewarding. He started out life as a physicist but after a few years of research jumped ship to science communication.

Tony is director of the IoI’s acclaimed Debating Matters Competition for sixth-form students, now in its fifth year. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programmes in the UK. Tony holds a degree in philosophy, politics and economics from the University of Oxford.

(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Tony.

Chris has previously held lecturing posts at Aston University and the University of Ulster. He is Reviews Editor for the journal Ethnopolitics and has eclectic interests, but his main field of research is in the broad area of nations, ‘race’ and ethnicity. He has edited (or co-edited) three collections on the peace process in Northern Ireland, he also occasionally writes reviews of art exhibitions for the online site CultureWars.

Luke is currently working as a post-graduate student at BPP law school, and is the ex-secretary of the University of Sussex Debating Society. He writes about philosophy for the review website Culture Wars, and is currently organising a series of debates on the legal profession’s turbulent relationship with diversity and inclusivity. Luke was a Debating Matters competitor during the competition’s pilot year, and is now part of the competition’s alumni network.

James was part of the Debating Matters team from 2005-06 and responsible for producing and editing the competition’s acclaimed Topic Guides. James is a PhD student in political theory at the London School of Economics. His research focuses on the relationship between moral theory and social theory in the work of G. A. Cohen, John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas. James read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at New College, Oxford and has a Master’s in political theory from LSE. He is the co-convener of the Institute of Ideas Postgraduate Forum.

After finishing an MPhys degree in Astrophysics at Cardiff University, Edward stayed on to complete a PhD in the theory of line-driven stellar winds in 2004. In 2006 he joined the not for profit company LCOGT and is now in charge of the company’s global education and outreach effort. He regularly appears on the BBC radio wales programme “ Science Café”, and is an editor for the International Year of Astronomy project, “Portal to the Universe”. Edward is very interested in new developments in web technologies, and often appears, hosts, and directs science podcasts (including the highly successful “Teapots from Space” series).

Steve has a BA (Hons) Psychology from Hull University and an MA in Social Work and a Masters in Business Administration from Leicester University. He has had extensive experience in the field of social care, in front-line, managerial and strategic roles, and is the Deputy Director within Hackney’s Children and Young People’s Services. Along with Assistant Director Isabelle Trowler, he designed and implemented ‘Reclaim Social Work’, an ambitious and ground breaking transformation of Children’s Social Care which has received extremely promising initial results and attracted interest from academics, practitioners and media alike. Steve manages Youth Services and Youth Justice services and has chaired the Hackney’s Safeguarding Board and Domestic Violence Committee, he also sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Academy of Parenting Practitioners. Steve has appeared to give evidence to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee and contributed to the Laming review on child protection services.

Cameron Gordon is a Director of Du service design - a social enterprise that is in business “to make the world a better place.“He was once a professional actor - but was rubbish. Cameron has recently been appointed to manage Communications for the North East Social Enterprise Partnership and is also working with a school in Billingham helping students and teachers reconcile their inner and outer voices.

Christopher comes from Edinburgh, read Classics at St Andrews, and upon graduation worked for a tea company in India for a year. He has subsequently worked professionally in arts management and policy for nearly 40 years, including a London theatre company, several arts festivals, the Arts Council, London Borough of Camden, Hampshire County Council, and as chief executive of the English Regional Arts Boards. Freelance since 2001, Christopher has directed major cultural policy evaluations for the Council of Europe in Italy, Latvia, Cyprus, currently Turkey, run capacity-building training in ex-Yugoslavia, and teaches part time at various universities (London City, Bologna, Turin). He is married, with four adult children.

Until the end of January James was Director of Public Affairs, with responsibility for Academic Liaison work. In this role he was responsible for Pfizer’s academic liaison programmes, the site visits programme and defining the external public affairs strategy around the science base and skills with key stakeholders. He was also heavily involved in Pfizer’s support of the EU and EFPIA’s Innovative Medicines Inititative. Prior to working at Pfizer James worked for Business in the Community where he was Director of their CSR Campaign helping companies develop their CSR strategies, policies and Programmes.

Ian has been an information publisher since 1971, delivering illustrated information to homes, schools, and colleges throughout the world in books, software, and online, and in combinations of all three. His senior executive roles prior to working with Encyclopaedia Britannica were as Publishing Director of Two-Can Publishing Ltd, London and Princeton, NJ, and as Publisher and Group Business Director of Dorling Kindersley Ltd.

Carol has had a successful career in journalism and public relations spanning 20 years. She is a former director of communications at Shelter and the Local Government Association, and now runs her own company, Grant Riches Communications, offering PR and marketing advice to public sector clients. She writes opinion pieces regularly for the media and is also an executive coach and mentor, accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management.

As well as his role as Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, Anthony is also a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. He has written and edited many books on philosophy and other subjects; his most recent are Liberty in the Age of Terror and Ideas that Matter. For several years he wrote the ‘Last Word’ column for the Guardian newspaper and is a regular reviewer for the Literary Review and the Financial Times. He also often writes for the Observer, Economist, Times Literary Supplement, Independent on Sunday and New Statesman, and is a frequent broadcaster on BBC Radios 4, 3 and the World Service.

General Practitioner

Julia qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and has worked in the south west since that time. She moved to Foot Anstey in 2007 and now heads up their education team. Julia has worked with primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, independent schools, Further Education colleges and the university, and is a secondary school governor and a Further Education governor. Foot Anstey is in the process of becoming a Trust School Partner to one of the city’s local primary schools.

Sarah runs Genesis Learning Solutions, which specialises in the delivery of management, customer service and business skills training to commercial organisations. Her company has worked with for the likes of the NHS, O2, ACAS and Northern Foods, to name but a few. Before setting up her own business, Sarah’s previous life was as Learning and Development Manager within the utilities industry. When not running the company she enjoys running on the pavements and has competed in marathons, half marathons and several cross country races. Sarah is also a trustee of a women’s charity in Leeds called Genesis (no connection to her own business) and is a keen business networker in West Yorkshire.

Jean studied English and History before turning to Politics. She has worked in Sheffield for 15 years. An expert on global development and democracy, she has carried out extensive research across Latin America and Spain. She is author of 7 books and more than 70 articles and book chapters.  She is currently working on a 4 volume study of democratization and a book on children and globalization. She edited the principal UK journal on Latin America, the Bulletin of Latin American Research, and has acted as an advisor to the EU on policy in Latin America. She is currently advising the EU on children’s rights. She was also a director of the children’s charity Childhope, which works with children across the developing world. As Co-Director of the PSA, she works with public sector bodies of different levels – from local councils to the EU – make better use of academic research.

Following a 10-year academic career in criminological research and teaching, Phil is now Director of philhadfield.co.uk, a Leeds-based research and training consultancy specialising in alcohol, the night-time economy and urban cultural planning. He is an associate member of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, School of Law, University of Leeds. Phil is the author of numerous articles and reports and three books, all published by Oxford University Press: Nightlife and Crime: Social Order and Governance in International Perspective (2009), Bar Wars: Contesting the Night in Contemporary British Cities (2006), and Bouncers: Violence and Governance in the Night-time Economy (2003)

Bobby has over 25 years experience in broadcasting, and is Director of Broadcasting & Regulatory Affairs for STV, based at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. In his current role Bobby is responsible for the two STV licence areas in central and north Scotland and represents STV at ITV Council which runs the Channel 3 network. He is a member of the Royal Television Society and BAFTA Scotland. Previously, Bobby was Programme Director of Virgin Radio and worked in many of Scotland’s commercial radio stations. Aside from his broadcasting work, Bobby is also chairman of the Scottish Youth Theatre

Elaine Hall is a Senior Researcher in the Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University, where she has worked for ten years on a range of projects from the development of speech in young children to the motivation of adult learners. If she has learned anything in that time, it is the importance of being able to construct a coherent and well- supported argument!

Martin is currently Head of the School of English at the University of Leicester and, between 2005-2009, was Director of the Centre for American Studies. He is the author of six books, including ‘American Culture in the 1950’s’ (2007) and ‘Transatlantic Modernism’ (2006), and a recent edited collection ‘American Thought and Culture in the 21st Century’ (2008).

Ian Hammond has been Chair of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) since 2006. He works as a management consultant specialising in health matters having previously been a Department of Health civil servant and an NHS Trust Chief Executive. He has an MA in Politics and Government.

Jim has reported on politics in the North West and Westminster for 35 years. Starting in local radio in Manchester, Jim became a Lobby Correspondent for IRN in 1980. He was Granada’s Political Correspondent from 1987 to 1994. He then joined the BBC first as a national political reporter at West Minster then Political Editor for the BBC in the North West.  He now writes on politics for the Liverpool Daily Post and regional and national magazines.  His broadcasting work includes presenting editions of Beyond Westminster for BBC Radio 4.

Amanda has worked as a radio and television producer for the BBC for the last twenty years, producing a wide range of documentaries, current affairs and discussion programmes. Currently she is Series Producer of Factual programmes for the BBC’s Religion and Ethics Department here in Manchester.

Timandra won the 1997 Independent newspaper column-writing competition with a short piece on goat-borrowing. She now writes for publications including the Daily Telegraph, WIRED and BBC Focus on science, technology, transport and travel, motoring and motorcycles. Formerly director of FameLab, Cheltenham Science Festival’s search for new talent in Science Communication, Timandra hosts events for the Wellcome Collection and the British Council, among others. She has written and directed two short films and, with Linda Cotterill, written a comedy about two angels who are made redundant and a feature film about a man going to Mars in his own hall cupboard.

Kathryn studied chemistry at the University of York and Nottingham University. Whilst working on her PhD she got involved in science communication and loved it. She now works full time for the University of Surrey, promoting science and engineering subjects in schools in the south east.

Chair, White Space

Richard taught subjects ranging from Classics to History, Mathematics to De Bono’s Thinking Skills. He taught in independent and maintained schools, finally becoming a deputy head in a secondary school in Kent. Before joining the University of Hull, Richard taught in four other universities, working in primary, secondary and post-compulsory teacher education, and as a law lecturer in a Centre for Policing Studies.

After graduation, Paul worked in broadcast television for Channel 4, the BBC and Central Television. Paul has taught media production in a number of Scottish institutions, was head of film and television at Edinburgh College of Art until 2002, and has won numerous awards, including a BAFTA Scotland and a British Academy Award.

Paul was a Board Member of Scottish Screen, and Chairman of the Scottish Screen Investment Panel. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP), of Scottish Enterprise’s Digital Media Industry Advisory Group, an Advisory Board member for Scottish Enterprise, Tayside Region, and a member of Learning and Teaching Scotland’s Advisory Council.

Adam grew up in south Devon and studied Zoology at Cambridge before moving to Sheffield to study ants, wasps and bees for his PhD. He spent seven years there, moving on to post-doctoral research before becoming a lecturer. He moved to a permanent position in the University of Gloucestershire, where is now course leader in Biosciences and teaches on a wide range of biological subjects, including animal behaviour and experimental design. He is an active researcher, working chiefly with insects although he also works on birds and other animals. He can be heard on BBC Radio Gloucestershire on the ‘Ask Adam’ science slot where he answers general science questions from the listening public.

Hamish is a researcher in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University. He works on software tools to help improve the management of the engineered infrastructure on which our health, wealth, and comfort depend.

As well as his role at the University of Derby, Dennis is also Visiting Professor of Education at Oxford Brookes, and the founder of the influential campaign group Academics For Academic Freedom. In 2006-7, he was the first joint president of the University and College Union, the largest post-compulsory education union in the world. He is a member of the editorial board of the Times Higher Education magazine and was a columnist for ‘FE Focus’ in the Times Educational Supplement.

Patrick Hayes is currently working on marketing and communications for the Debating Matters competition and the Global Uncertainties Schools Network.
Patrick also works with the Institute of Ideas on the production of the Battle of Ideas festival and related events, including the forthcoming Battle for Politics and the IoI’s Safeguarding conference, organised with Wiltshire council. He is one of the founders of the IoI’s Current Affairs Forum. He was previously the head of research and development for publishers TSL Education, where he was responsible for the research leading to the successful re-launches of The TES and THE.Patrick writes regularly on a wide range of issues for online current affairs publication Spiked and produces programmes for online TV channel WORLDbytes. His writing has also appeared in a range of local, national and online publications, including the Times Educational Supplement, Battles in Print, FE Focus, Culture Wars and the Thurrock Gazette. He has made numerous appearances on local and national radio and has written a chapter on ‘What’s Motivating Students?’ in the recently published A Lecturer’s Guide to Further Education (OUP).Patrick has an Executive MBA from Henley Business School; a first class honours degree in philosophy from the University of Warwick and an AHRC-funded masters degree from the University of Sussex.

Joanna has a particular interest in philosophy in schools and her book, Children as Philosophers, has been translated into Spanish and Greek. Over the last thirty years, Joanna has taught all age groups in a wide range of school and community settings, from nursery through to university. She is a keen amateur photographer and enjoys long walks with her lurcher.

A newspaper executive, Anoushka Healy has spent the past 13 years in the publishing industry during a period of enormous change including the launch of newspaper websites and the move from broadsheet to compact.  She was appointed Assistant Editor, Strategy & Development for The Times in January 2008.  Prior to this appointment she was Editorial Communications Director for The Times from 2002-2008. Her current role is a new position, reporting directly to the Editor, and focuses on the development and implementation of editorial strategy. Prior to joining The Times, Anoushka was Head of Corporate Communications at The Financial Times Group for seven years.  She has a degree in Modern languages.

After completing a PhD in History, Ian joined the UK Recruitment team at The University of Hertfordshire, which is responsible for working with local schools and colleges in Hertfordshire. He has also taught in secondary education and has particular experience in working with very able students as part of the Gifted and Talented initiative. Ian is on the steering group for the Eastern Region Gifted and Talented Partnership (ERGTP), which is the regional organisation that oversees provision for G&T students across the east of the country.

Noreena Hertz is the critically acclaimed and best selling author of both The Silent Takeover, and IOU: The Debt Threat. Her books have been translated into 15 languages, the most recent being Arabic and Chinese. When Noreena is not writing or teaching she can be found advising company CEOs, Prime Ministers, Presidents and even musicians. The rock star Bono cites her as the inspiration for Project (Red), which generated last year $130 million for the Global Fund for Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis. Her own campaign ‘Mayday for Nurses’ in which she persuaded Premier League footballers to give up a day of their pay for hard up nurses made the plight of Britain’s nurses front page news and is the most successful campaign in British football to date. The Observer has called Professor Hertz “One of the world’s leading thinkers”, New Statesman has labelled her “Best of young British” while Vogue magazine has named her “one of the most inspiring women in the world”.

Caspar is a freelance engineer and mathematician with over seventeen years of research experience in academia and industry. He has taught and lectured a variety of subjects including mathematics, Darwinian theory, theories of human nature, philosophy of science and environmental issues. He is the founder and chair of The Great Debate, a group based in the North-East of England who organise workshops, courses and public discussions on scientific and social issues. He is currently working on a book about humanism and the notion of progress.

Rachel Hillman works for the Wellcome Trust, a charity funding biomedical research and public engagement. There she manages the broadcast strategy, working with the film, broadcast, games and interactive media industries to increase the quality, quantity and visibility of science content in programming of all genres.

Sara has more than 20 years’ experience as a teacher (mainly of adults) and researcher. Her intellectual interests are in feminist theory, particularly of equality and difference, and how ‘difference’ theory can be used to enshrine inequality. Her day job is as a manager at Sussex University where she coordinates the administration of the science area.

Peter is a native of Loughborough in the East Midlands, but after studying a BSc and PhD degrees in Chemistry at the University of Durham became an honorary North-Easterner. After gaining his PGCE at the University of Newcastle, Peter became a teacher at Ponteland Community High School, where he has taught since 1989. Peter is currently on secondment for this academic year to the School of Chemistry, Newcastle University.

Alex is researching consumerism and post-material values in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research. Alex was previously Institute of Ideas web editor and research assistant and is an organiser of the Battle of Ideas, previously producing debates on evolution, religion, new technologies, immigration and population at the festival. In early 2008, Alex co-produced the IoI & Bishopsgate Institute Secularism 2008 Series. Alex is a co-founder and organiser of the IoI Current Affairs Forum, established to bring together students, young professionals and others interested in investigating what politics means today. Alex occasionally writes articles for spiked and reviews for Culture Wars and was on the editorial team of the Battles in Print 2007. Alex co-edited the Manifesto Club’s freedom blog, Speaking our mind, and was a regular guest on news discussion programme Up Front on internet TV channel 18 Doughty Street. He also occasionally helps to write Topic Guides for the Debating Matters Competition.  Alex has an MA in European Studies from King’s College London and a BSc in International Relations and History from the London School of Economics.

Martin studied law at Edinburgh University, where he was also a member of the University Debating Society. After graduating he trained as a solicitor with an Edinburgh commercial law firm. He returned to teach at Edinburgh University Law School in 1995. His main fields of legal expertise lie in the law of obligations, especially contract law.

Amber is an undergraduate student currently studying Development Geography at Bath Spa University. During 6th form Amber took part in the Debating Matters Competition, and her school were lucky enough to reach the final. Since 6th form she has worked in print production for a year before going to university. 

Michael began his media career on local newspapers aged 18 and has worked as a reporter and production journalist for newspapers, magazines, websites and Sky TV. He lives in south London and in his spare time is most likely to be found in the cinema, theatre or opera house, or out walking a long-distance footpath.

Jake says of his debating Matters experience: “Having taken part in Debating Matters last year, it was not a difficult decision to get involved this year as an alumni. I really believe the competition is massively important. I found a lot of school confining in its structures and banalities; when writing essays, one was almost encouraged to sit on the fence, to give dispassionate accounts of two sides of any argument. Debating Matters meanwhile actively encourages a strong line of argument, and gives partakers the freedom to be original in their debates. I have since experienced a similar change of values at university. Essentially, DM is a more advanced form of intellectual pursuit for young people. I look forward to helping out this year!”

Jenny Hope is the Medical Correspondent for the Daily Mail. Her job involves coverage of news in the medical, health and science field as well as features. Jenny has won numerous journalism awards including the Cancer Research UK annual award, BMA’s medical journalist of the year, winner in the Medical Journalists’ Association awards and the Royal College of Nursing journalist of the year. Jenny qualified as a journalist through the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ training scheme after gaining a BA Honours degree in English at Cardiff University.

Rob began working at the Division of Sociology and Criminology in January 2008. Since leaving school he worked for a number of years as a chef before entering academic life as a mature student. Rob studied Sociology & Social Policy at the University of Durham and then completed an MA in Criminal Justice Studies and a PhD which was an ethnographic study of young offenders and the youth justice system in a northern city. Prior to joining Northumbria he worked as a researcher and lecturer at the Universities of Huddersfield, Durham, Sunderland, Newcastle, York and the London School of Economics.

Martin was born in Cheltenham in 1962. He went to Oxford University to read Modern History in 1981, and was elected President of the Oxford Student Liberal Society and then Chair of the party’s national student wing, the Union of Liberal Students. After graduating and leaving student politics, Martin worked first in a London advertising agency and then in the voluntary sector. In 1990 he moved to Oxford to work for Oxfam and was elected as a local district and parish councillor there. Following a year working in India, Martin returned to the UK to become the first Director of Fundraising at the Alzheimer’s Society, following which he worked as Head of Consultancy for Target Direct.

Martin was elected as Cheltenham’s MP in May 2005. He serves on the Environmental Audit select committee and is the Liberal Democrat shadow minister for the environment. He is also secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on corporate responsibility and chair of the all-party group for tribal peoples

Anthony manages Google’s communications and public affairs for Google in the UK and across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He focuses primarily on search, technology, open source and software development. Anthony has a doctorate in sixteenth century English history. Originally from the west coast of the US, Anthony currently lives in London.

Robin has been involved in science communication for more than ten years, two of which as Director of Science at the Glasgow Science Centre. He has considerable experience in programming and as Director has ensured the delivery of quality activities both in-reach and on outreach and has overseen the initiation of the exhibit ‘Masterplan’, which will renew and refurbish the existing galleries.

Emran is a freelance journalist and researcher, based in London. Having worked on a local paper in London, where he reported on diary and off-diary stories and did some reviews writing, Emran is currently interning with the Institute of Ideas. He has an interest in Middle Eastern history, culture, geopolitics, trade and business.

Having worked in property law for over 20 years, Josephine has moved her life in a different direction (with some help from the credit crunch) and is now studying early childhood studies as a mature student.  She is thoroughly enjoying studying again and particularly glad that she is isn’t studying law any more. Vygotsky is much more interesting, as are the discussions that are to be had nowadays about the tricky question of children’s play!

John is an artist and musician with a deep interest in all subjects. He works in collaborations with other subject experts on a variety of projects and also pursues his own restless inquiry across a range of media. John has represented Britain in the British Art Show and was singer in the legendary band, The Three Johns.

Nicholas’ work includes productions at the Northcott Exeter, Leeds Playhouse, and Royal Exchange Manchester, where he was Associate Director. He has directed Measure for Measure, The Tempest and King Lear for the RSC. For the National: Ghetto, The Wind in the Willows, The Madness of George III, The Recruiting Officer, Carousel, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Winter’s Tale, Mother Clap’s Molly House, and, as Director of the NT: Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, The Rose Tattoo, Rafta, Rafta…, Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara and England People Very Nice. Other work in London includes Miss Saigon, The Importance of Being Earnest, Cressida, The Lady in the Van, and Orpheus Descending; in New York Carousel, Twelfth Night, and Sweet Smell of Success. His work in opera includes productions for The Royal Opera House, Kent Opera, ENO, Glyndebourne, Paris Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, Geneva Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. Films: The Madness of King George, The Crucible, The Object of My Affection and The History Boys.

Peter Inson grew up in Essex and trained as an agriculturalist, became a teacher of English and, eventually, headmaster of a comprehensive school in west London. For five years he taught at an international boarding school in Switzerland.  He is the author of an award winning first Novel, dunno. Peter lives in Essex with his wife Jean and ten bee hives and has two adult children.  His hobbies include lots of skiing and running the London Marathon.  He has appeared on the BBC Breakfast Show, Sky News, Channel Five, The Jeremy Vine Show, and Radio Essex. He has had articles about education and young people published for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Daily Express and The Independent.

For the last forty five years Virginia has been a rock journalist, television reviewer, columnist and agony aunt. She’s also written sixteen books.

Ian has 30 years experience living and working in a variety of culturally and racially diverse urban settings – Halewood in Liverpool, Erdington/Nechells in Birmingham and Greenwich and Lambeth in London. His experience has been in the areas of community development, the voluntary sector, partnerships, regeneration, faith settings, local government and neighbourhood renewal. He is currently Director of Lambeth First. Ian is a voracious reader of contemporary fiction; an expert in 17th century history with a special emphasis on the Civil War and Commonwealth period, and is in despair about current political discourse.

Marcus began his working career behind a counter of a record shop. He left that company six years later having moved into Human Resources, where he stayed for a total of 18 years. Having spent too much time inflicting pain on people, he was fortunate to be offered a change of career in 2006, and moved into CSR at the law firm Addleshaw Goddard, where he remains. Despite trying to make the world a better place, he still has a lot of good work to do before he finally offsets his debt to society.

Hilly has worked for 20 years as an editor and writer on national quality newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, The Observer and The Times - where she launched and edited the paper’s award winning Body&Soul section. Hilly was one of the founding journalists of The Independent.

Edexcel designs and delivers high stakes formal academic qualifications and is acknowledged as the examination technology leader in the UK. Jerry came to Edexcel in 2000 and has driven its operational success. He is an engineer with broad experience in high technology companies, having held senior directorships in nearly every discipline including Information Technology and Quality Assurance.  Immediately prior to joining Edexcel Jerry was Business Change Director in British Aerospace Systems/Alenia, a role that he pioneered in the Marconi Company. Amongst a number of process and technology ‘firsts’ his previous company won the UK Management Today competition as Customer Service of the Year competition; he delivered the first British Standard Environmental Management award for a company in the North of England; and he holds the patent for a ‘play anywhere’ music CD, now sadly overtaken by new technology!

Kate is about clear, creative and persuasive communication. She’s brought fresh ideas from across the marketing mix – traditional and new media - to bring Manchester Business School, its students and research to life. Nominated as one of the North West’s top public sector communicators, she has plenty of experience with change communication – devising external and internal stakeholder campaigns. Equally at home with the press – from the BBC’s Top Gear to The Financial Times – she’s generated stacks of on-message press coverage. Before joining Manchester Business School, Kate cut her teeth in private sector agency roles in London and Manchester. 

Tiffany is a sociologists and cultural commentator. A Visiting Fellow, in heritage and property law, her research explores contestations and controversies in the cultural sphere, and how the body becomes a locale for so many cultural, political, and ethical debates. Her book, Contesting Human Remains: museums and the crisis of cultural authority, will be published by Routledge in Autumn 2010. Tiffany is a regular broadcaster and contributes to the broadsheet press, most often the Scotsman.  She is also the arts and society director of the Institute of Ideas. You can read her blog here

Duncan joined the University of Cambridge as the Professor of Cancer Therapeutics in May 2008, from Edinburgh.  A clinician, he holds an honorary consultant contract at Addenbrookes Hospital, as a medical oncologist.  He trained in medical oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London and the Beatson Oncology Centre in Glasgow and also spent a year as a Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.  He leads the CRUK Pharmacology and Drug Development Group (PDDG), based in the Cambridge Research Institute (CRI), involved in the evaluation of novel anti-cancer drugs.  He sits on a number of expert advisory committees and has acted as an expert advisor to the Scottish Medicines Consortium.  In addition to many peer-reviewed papers he has contributed to major reference texts such as Therapeutic Drugs and The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine.

Kristina is the Press and New Media Information Officer at the National Galleries of Scotland. Previously she worked at arts organisations throughout the UK including New Media Scotland, the Fruitmarket Gallery, and Hauser & Wirth London. She specialises in contemporary art and engaging gallery audiences through new media. In addition she is a freelance writer and art critic and holds an MSc with distinction in History, Theory and Display at the University of Edinburgh. In her spare time she enjoys knitting and experimenting with wearable technology.

Dr Jill John was a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University for 29 years before retiring earlier this year. For the past five years Jill has trained teachers in social work and on the social work degree programme. Prior to that she headed a programme assessing the educational impact of access courses for Black and Asian students. She also has many years of community and youth work experience and was one of Manchester’s first qualified black youth workers.

Lindsay has written for The Times, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Evening Standard and New Humanist magazine on socio-political and racial topics. Having had various features on BBC Radio 3’s Nightwaves, BBC Radio 5 Live and been featured in several Channel 5 history documentaries, his recent polemic against bling culture was a Channel 4 Three Minute Wonder in August 2008. After reading French and Italian at Oxford, and a period of postgraduate work in medieval Latin philosophy in London, he is now the resident cultural critic on Colourful Radio. A devotee of Dante and Shakespeare as much as of Beenie Man and Big Daddy Kane, Lindsay seeks to unite the academy and the street. His expertise lies in the fields of classical, medieval and Renaissance history and literature. In his spare time he works as a volunteer mentor with young people on a leadership scheme in Peckham, South London.

Martin trained and practiced as a nurse at Manchester Royal Infirmary. After postgraduate study, he has worked in five northern universities as both a teacher and researcher. He is currently a member of a team examining ‘end of life’ care from a range of perspectives.

Leo Johnson is a Partner of PwC’s Sustainability and Climate Change team, and Co-Founder of Sustainable Finance Ltd, advisors since 2004 to over 50 international financial institutions around the risks and opportunities of sustainability, and now a part of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Group. 
On behalf of Sustainable Finance, Leo has worked since 2003 on the rollout of the Equator Principles, an industry standard for environmental and social due diligence, that has grown from an initial four to sixty banks, representing over 90% of cross-border project finance. In 2004, he was awarded the IFC Corporate Award for his work in this area.
In 2006, Leo worked with the Financial Times and IFC to establish the Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards, an industry for international banks, asset managers and private equity groups. He served as a Judge for the inaugural awards and has acted on behalf of Sustainable Finance as Technical Advisor to the FT for the Awards since their inception.  Leo is Sustainability Adviser and Judge for the Prix Pictet—a Prize for Photography around sustainability issues for which Kofi Annan is the Honorary President. He is on the Advisory Board of Triple Bottom Line Investing (TBLI).
Leo is the author of IFC’s best practice publication: Beyond Risk: Sustainability and the Emerging Markets Financial Sector. He has commented on sustainability and written guest columns for CNBC, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal. A Contributor to UNEP’s Working Capital Report on the financial sector and sustainability, he is the author of The Future of Finance: Sustainable Banking and the Banco Real Model, to be published in the forthcoming 2008 INSEAD collection of essays on best practice in sustainable banking.
Leo has an MBA from INSEAD. He holds an M.Sc. in Resource and Environmental Economics from University College London, where he was Dow Scholar, and a B.A. from New College, Oxford, where he was Stephens Scholar.

Anne has worked for Scottish newspaper The Herald for 30 years. She studied Modern History at Oxford and her own debating skills are kept in shape dealing with her two grown-up daughters and 16-year old son.

Lee specialises in the international relations of the Asia-Pacific, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. An occasional media commentator and critic, he has also written on topics ranging from environmentalism and economic development to animal experimentation and freedom of speech.

David is Professor of Bioethics at St Mary’s University and is frequently involved in public debates over ethical issues, both in parliament and in the media.

Neil is director of studies in law at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and a university senior lecturer in law. He is a legal historian, and editor of the Journal of Legal History. He is the author of a number of articles on English legal history, and a contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. He is the assistant literary director of the Selden Society, a body devoted to the advancement of legal history and the publication of editions of legal historical source material.

Nicolette is a writer, literary critic and broadcaster, who used to be a debater herself at school and university (where she toured Australia and New Zealand as part of a three-person Oxford Union debating team). She is the award-winning author of The Plimsoll Sensation, about the Victorian philanthropist Samuel Plimsoll, and of Blooming Books, about the illustrator and writer Raymond Briggs, and has written for all the broadsheet newspapers including The Sunday Times, for which she reviews the children’s books. She grew up in Leeds.

Valentina was born in Moscow (Russia). At the age of 17 she came to the UK to study at Bellerbys and then Mander Portman Woodward Colleges at Cambridge University. She holds a BA in International Business and an MSc in Management and Strategy and has been actively involved in Student Unions throughout her time in the UK, she was a Nottingham Trent University ambassador for over two years and was a Nottingham Trent University at the Representative Bloomberg State of the Economy Conference.

Lampton School

Ursula Kelly is Assistant Director (Policy & Communications) in the Information Resources Directorate of the University of Strathclyde. A graduate of the University of York, she previously worked in the Universities of Lodz and Warsaw (Poland) and for the British Council before joining the University of Strathclyde in 1990.  A Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce, her interests include higher education policy and the wider social and economic role of higher education. She is currently joint coordinator of a major Economic and Social Research Council research initiative into the impact of universities on regional economies.

Rik has been Group Media Relations Manager at eaga for the past three years. Prior to that he was media relations manager at Newcastle Building Society – and before that he was a journalist and business reporter with The Journal newspaper in Newcastle. Rik has more than 15 years experience in journalism and public relations and is married and has two daughters aged six and three. Away from work he is a keen surfer and enjoys live music, reading and going to the theatre – although most of his spare time is currently taken up studying for a Masters degree.

Angus Kennedy is the head of external relations for the Institute of Ideas. He is also responsible for the Institute of Ideas websites: Institute of Ideas, Battle of Ideas, Culture Wars and Debating Matters. Angus is a Battle of Ideas committee member, writes for spiked, and reviews for Culture Wars. He is also a member of the Emerging Economies Forum and helps organise its discussions.  He is particularly interested in new forms of political language, especially when they advance further erosions of our liberties and display an increasing contempt for our ability to live without interference or regulation. Angus believes that we should be free to say what we want and are quite capable of taking responsibility for what we do: words and deeds can still change the world. He wants a politics for adults: not patronising lectures and bans.  Angus has a degree in Classics from Oxford, in Linguistics from the University of London and an M. Phil. in Artificial Intelligence from Dundee University. He has always been interested in language, literature and questions of reading and meaning. His professional background is in IT consultancy and software process improvement. Angus organised the Battle for the Global Economy strand at the Battle of Ideas 2009 as well as chairing and speaking at a number of other sessions. For details see the Battle website.

Chris is the first Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board, the new regulator of the legal services market. He has previously been a senior civil servant in the Department of Health and the Treasury, a regulator at Oftel, and a Director of the Association of British Insurers. He is a non-executive director of Ombudsman Services Ltd, has held non-executive posts in the NHS and third sector and spent ten years as a school governor.

The IoI associate membership scheme was set up in May 2002, and now has associates throughout the UK and around the world.Geoff also convenes the monthly IoI Book Club, and supervises the IoI’s administration and event management. He is also the Institute of Ideas’ resident expert in all sporting matters and covered the Beijing Olympics for Culture Wars.

Rob has 20 years of senior management experience, is a regular media commentator and has spoken at numerous public conferences. Rob’s writing has appeared in a wide range of publications ranging from economic think-tanks to marketing magazines and web publications in the UK and abroad. These include the Social Science Research Network, Journal of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Executive Internet, spiked and Novo. His blog, UK After The Recession, which deals with how the UK can develop a dynamic economy once again, has attracted a wide audience.

Andrew has always been interested in how and why certain texts are kept for posterity and others disappear. His first degree was in Classical and Medieval Latin, and he has MA’s in Medieval Studies and English. His PhD was on the Victorian ancestors of Reader’s Digest and he has published extensively on Victorian magazines and popular reading. He taught for many years at Universities overseas (including Catania, Warsaw, Bucharest, Ghent) and, immediately before coming to Canterbury Christ Church University in 2003, he taught at Birkbeck, University of London.

John is one of the UK’s leading thinkers on the changing face of work and organisations, and has consulted to a wide range of corporate and public sector clients. John’s recent client work has focused on strategic reviews, thought leadership and high-level public policy work particularly in the cultural sphere.  He was previously Director of Research Advocacy at The Work Foundation, where he played a key role in transforming the organisation into an authority on work issues. He has authored numerous reports on work, organisational change and public policy including ‘The Art of Dying’ and ‘Whose Art Is It Anyway’.

Melanie currently leads the Science in Society Team at the ESRC. Melanie originally came to the UK from Canada to study Anthropology at Keele University and liked England so much she decided to stay and make a life here. In her job at the ESRC she is passionate about convincing social scientists they need to talk with young people and the public about their research, and getting the public talking about social science issues and tries to think of creative ways for this to happen. As part of this she organises ESRC’s Festival of Social Science, and is developing a webpage to help teachers bring contemporary research into the classroom .

Simon manages a team of youth work staff for a Scottish local authority. He is a Director of Generation Youth Issues and on the Board of Play Scotland. Simon is currently studying for a PhD in Community Education at the University of Strathclyde, focusing on how past childhood experiences contributed to emerging self-hood in young people. In what little spare time remains, Simon chases his three year old son about and plays football averagely.

Helen works part time in the Manufacturing HR team, supporting 45,000 back office staff in projects currently focusing on identifying and developing high talent individuals.  She spends the rest of the week managing her 18 month old daughter and 7 month old bump.  Previously, Helen worked for ABN Amro HR, and before that as a volunteer helping run summer holiday camps for teenagers.  She enjoys rugby, rowing, reading and baking cakes.

Hazel joined the press team at the Medical Research Council in 2006 and has just moved back to Edinburgh where as MRC Regional Communications Manager in Scotland she helps scientists to talk and write about their research for audiences beyond their peers.  Hazel’s work has taken her from coral reefs in Borneo to the Large Hadron Collider tunnel in Geneva. She has an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London and a BSc Hons in Medical Microbiology from the University of Edinburgh.

Stewart is an academic economist turned journalist and television producer. He is the former executive producer and editor in the current affairs department at the BBC. Stewart holds awards from the BFI, the New York Film and TV Festival, Amnesty, Sony and the BMA and was nominated for a documentary EMMY. He is the author of nine books, most recently Rich Britain, The Rise and Rise of the Super-Rich (Politico’s, 2006) and Londongrad: From Russia With Cash, The Inside Story of the Oligarchs (4th Estate, 2009 ).

Tony is a clinical psychologist and throughout his career has retained clinical contact with people who have severe and long term mental health problems. He has published extensively on aspects of service delivery, clinical practice, workforce planning, quality assurance and the evaluation of mental health services and psychosis. Within clinical psychology he has been influential in developing nationally agreed and applied approaches to the evaluation of postgraduate training and the development of standards and processes for accreditation of programmes. He has considerable experience of establishing quality assurance systems in a range of organisations including NHS Mental Health Services and Higher Education, and has played a leading role in workforce development nationally with the Department of Health, British Psychological Society and National Institute of Mental Health. Most recently he has been working with the BPS, Department of Health and NIMHE/CSIP on many aspects of workforce planning for mental health services. He is currently Joint Chair of the BPS/NIMHE group looking at ‘New Ways of Working for Applied Psychologists’. Tony is based here at the Salomon’s campus.

Shirley leads the PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages at the Institute of Education. She has a background of experience in teaching French in Secondary schools, Further Education, Adult Education and industry and for the past 15 years has worked in the university sector as a PGCE tutor and researcher. Shirley has published widely on a number of aspects of foreign language teaching and learning and on teacher education. She has recently been made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Academique by the French Ministry of Education, for her ‘services to French culture’.

Colin read music at Oxford and was subsequently awarded a Masters degree at Birmingham University for his work on the eighteenth-century clarinet. He taught at Aberdeen, Sheffield and London Universities before moving to Thames Valley University as Pro Vice-Chancellor (2001-05). Colin has an international profile as a period clarinettist and has played principal in most of Britain’s leading period orchestras, notably The Hanover Band, The English Concert and the London Classical Players, with whom he has recorded extensively and toured world-wide. He has appeared as soloist in many international venues, including London’s major concert halls and New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Colin has published widely, especially for Cambridge University Press, and is editor of ‘The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet’ and author of ‘Cambridge Handbooks to Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto’ and ‘Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet’. He is also editor of the recent ‘Cambridge Companion to the Orchestra’ (2003) and co-editor of the forthcoming ‘Cambridge History of Musical Performance’.

Before joining the Independent in June 2008, Jimmy worked as Digital Director at Freud Communications, joining them from Downing Street where he was head of the Prime Minister’s digital communications. Previous to that, he spent six years at guardian.co.uk working on their business-to-business digital operations.

Michele has an MA in English literature from Leeds University.  He qualified as a teacher of English in 2001 and has worked in various state and independent schools.  He now runs two subject-centred Saturday Schools for children from 5 to 15 and teaches English and maths in one of them. Michele is a co-organiser and founding member of Leeds Salon, which organises public debates on current affairs, politics, science and culture.  He has written articles on education, the curriculum and the teaching of poetry for various publications from the Guardian’s comment is Free website to spiked-online and Culture Wars.  He has also written the chapter on English teaching for The Corruption of the Curriculum (Civitas, 2007).  He has appeared several times on radio and TV, including BBC Breakfast.  With the Manifesto Club he has launched the Hands Off Poetry! petition against the ban of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem Education for Leisure from the AQA Anthology and examination syllabus, following a media panic about knife crime.  He is currently researching The Privatisation of Knowledge and the End of Liberal Education.

Ellie is a senior lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Kent. She previously worked at Southampton University as a lecturer, and then as research fellow. She is the author of Abortion, Motherhood, and Mental Health: Medicalizing Reproduction in the US and Britain (Aldine Transaction, 2003) and has written many articles about abortion, contraception, reproductive technologies, and parenthood. Her most recent work discusses ‘late’ abortion; post-natal depression; feeding babies; and policy advising pregnant women to abstain from alcohol. Her research appears in articles in the journals including Health, Risk and Society, Sociology of Health and Illness and Reproductive Health Matters. She is the coordinator of the academic networks Pro-Choice Forum and Parenting Culture Studies.

An escapee from Scotland, Ralph has lived and taught in Kent for over 25 years. Previously a teacher and now a teacher trainer, Ralph has been involved in Debating Matters since its inception. Particularly interested in Citizenship Education and active participation, he regards this competition as an ideal way for school students to develop the essential skills of constructing and dismantling informed and reasoned arguments. Such is his limited social life that Ralph considers these debates to be amongst the highlights of his year. His main research interests relate to the construction of teacher identities and to the traditions of radical education. Ralph’s more contemplative moments centre on the ever-declining standard of Scottish football.

Before taking up her role at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Penny was editor of Prospect, the Scottish architecture magazine, from 2003-2008. She writes for a variety of trade publications and newspapers on a range of cultural issues, and is the author of two books on the work of the architects Gordon Murray and Alan Dunlop, ‘Challenging Contextualism’ (2004) and ‘Curious Rationalism’ (2006). She is co-author of ‘In Defence of the Dome’ (1999) and has written a chapter for the forthcoming book ‘Future of the Community: Reports of a Death Greatly Exaggerated’.

Lucinda has worked in informal learning for five years, after spending four years working as a classroom teacher. She is responsible for the regular programme of ‘Hot topic’ science Debates at MOSI for KS4&5, and within her role as an Education and Interpretation officer she has delivered training to colleagues across the UK and Europe in how to facilitate Debate. She has been a long serving judge for the Debating Matters Competition.

Norman is Founding Partner and Director of Open-Knowledge UK Ltd and was, until recently, the Chief Strategy Officer of Wireless Grids Corporation, USA. Prior to joining WGC, he was the Director of Technology Research for Orange UK, formerly the Home Division of France Telecom. He is recognised as an expert on future consumer behaviours and has written extensively about innovation, young people and social media, privacy and the future of communications. Until recently he was an Executive Board member of the MIT Communications Futures Programme and the Chairman of the International Telecommunications Union’s TELECOM Forum Programme Committee. 

Mark’s principle interests lie in the area of new media technologies and the ways in which they are impacting on both the production and reception of culture. He’s also interested in how these technologies (and other related developments in the bio sciences) have been put to use in both our exploration of the body and its representation.  He is a founder of the international journals parallax and Journal of Visual Culture and has been a member of the board of directors of a number of charities, arts organizations, and galleries.

Martin is a chemist by training, and has spent much of his professional life working for multinational companies in the food and agriculture sectors (at Unilever, Dalgety and DuPont). As a freelance science communicator, he is actively involved in a number of key science policy issues, including crop biotechnology, climate change and nanotechnology. He also leads a module in the Cambridge Masters in Biotechnology Enterprise course, covering agricultural and industrial biotechnology.

Liz Lloyd is a Senior Lecturer in Social Gerontology at the University of Bristol. She has a special interest in policies related to ageing and relations between generations.

Martyn is an NHS GP based in South East London. He started writing for a living in 1989 and has been a regular columnist in the medical press since 1993. He turned his hand to stand-up comedy on the London club circuit in the late 1990’s and was The Times’ weekend medical writer from 2004 to 2009. He pops up now and again on radio and TV news networks fielding questions about everything from swine flu to the sudden death of Michael Jackson. He also appears as an ‘expert’ in popular BBC2 science programmes - most recently in the current series of ‘Horizon’ - and his editor assures him that the first proof of his upcoming book, Sick Notes is in the post. He has no time for children until they reach the age where they can engage him in reasoned argument, and at that time he will use his considerable powers of persuasion to recruit them to the cause of supporting Manchester City football club.

Mo has been a freelance producer/programmer, working in the arts & culture sector for the past 10 years. She specialises in international and cross-cultural collaborations and was recently based in South Africa for 18 months, managing a programme of international collaborations. Mo is co-director of The Great Debate which is the umbrella title for a series of workshops, dayschools, and debates covering a diverse range of subjects from Humanism & The Enlightenment to Water Resource Management in the Third World. She also has a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from the University of Oxford.

Malcolm worked as a Baptist Minister in Battersea, South London for ten years (he now describes himself as a ‘Devout Sceptic’). In 1987 he attempted journalism and reported from the troubled Central American countries of El Salvador and Nicaragua, joined the BBC and eventually became a senior producer for features and documentaries. Malcolm now has three jobs: independent producer; communication skills coach and consultant; and university lecturer in Public Engagement of Science. One of his key current roles is principle communication skills trainer for the ‘Famelab’ competition in the UK and overseas - Famelab encourages scientists to be better science communicators. 

Clare selects scripts for the Birmingham Rep and runs the theatre’s Transmissions programme, which teaches young people the fundamentals of playwriting. She also works as a freelance reader and has been a judge of international playwriting awards such as Typhoon and Protect the Human and on this year’s Muslim Writers Awards.

Deirdre is currently Programme Manager for Aimhigher Greater Merseyside,  a partnership between Universities, Further Education Colleges and schools (including primary) to increase participation at University of under represented groups.  Her previous jobs include Aimhigher borough co-ordinator for Knowsley MBC and Youth Affairs Co-ordinator for Speke Garston Partnership. She sits on the board of Fairbridge and Speke 5 children’s and Families trust.

With a background in IT, Rob writes about a wide range of issues, but particularly on science, health and the environment, and is a frequent commentator on many different topics for television and radio. He is currently editing a book, What’s the Future of Food?, based on contributions to a Spiked online debate, and writing a book titled Poison on a Plate: How Society Developed an Eating Disorder.

Daithí Mac Síthigh is a full-time lecturer in media law, Internet law and constitutional law at the University of East Anglia and lives in Norwich. He is a graduate and Foundation Scholar of Trinity College Dublin, and is completing a PhD on the relationship between media law and new technologies.  Daithí has also worked in community and student radio and was an elected official of the Union of Students in Ireland and member of the Higher Education & Training Awards Council.

Nico has worked in innovation, technology and media from the ‘desktop publishing’ revolution of the mid 1980s to the Internet upheavals that began in the 1990s, for clients across the media sector, including the BBC and the Guardian Media Group. He is author of ‘What is Web Design?’ (RotoVision), and writes for publications including BBC News Online, Guardian Technology, the RSA Journal, spiked, The Register and the publications of NESTA and the Design Council. He also contributes to broadcast discussions on the BBC and elsewhere. He is chair of the Media Futures Conference and programmes the Innovation Reading Circle.

Ken reports for - and sometimes presents - television and radio programmes such as Newsnight Scotland and Good Morning Scotland.  A hundred years ago he attended Paisley Grammar School and Glasgow University.  At the former he was a member of the school debating team; at the latter he somehow acquired a law degree, but to the relief of the legal profession he went straight into journalism ‘to give it a try and see how things turn out’. He thinks it’s still too early to tell.

Jan is a sociologist at the University of Kent with an interest in recent changes in family life, intimacy and parenting. She has published on the subject of teenage pregnancy and contemporary singleness. Before returning to academia in 2001, she founded and ran The Maverick Club, a debating and dining club described as providing a space for ‘masterless and unorthodox’ individuals to discuss ideas.

Charles took part in the 2006/07 Debating Matters Competition as part of the Jack Hunt School (Peterborough) team, only to lose out at the Central Regional Finals in Leicester. He is now in his second year at University, where he is studying medicine. Apart from debating Charles also plays hockey and is part of a number of charities. 

Tsitsi is a second year student at Newcastle University currently studying Accounting and Finance. She is a keen member of the Newcastle University Debating Society and took part in the Debating Matters Competition two years ago. In her spare time she enjoys playing tennis and cooking.

Polly’s key responsibilites are leading and facilitating the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE) programme, and the Graduate Teaching Associates (GTA) course. LTHE is the course that all new acadmics at the University of Plymouth undertake as part of their professional development during their probationary period. The GTA Course is a short course designed to help support and develop course participants with their skills in learning, teaching, and assessment. In addition to this Polly has a few other responsibilities which include: chair of the PDP working group; member of the Disability and Equality strategy group; ED link to the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Education Teaching and Learning committees.

Dominic was educated at Lutterworth Grammar School and studied for a masters and PhD at Leicester University. He is a governor of the British Sociological Association’s Sports Study Group. His research interests include how athletes deal with pain and injury in sport, and how medical staff cope with injured athletes -  and more or less anything to do with cricket. His most recent book, ‘The SAGE Directory of Sport Studies’ was published last year.

Acie is the outgoing House of Lords leader for the UK Youth Parliament, the Youth MP for Kensington and Chelsea and, from March 7 this year, will be based in six African countries working to create more opportunities for young people in African schools.

Stewart has been a university lecturer for over ten years and is currently Head of the Education Department at the University of Teesside. Before that he taught for over thirty years in secondary schools including eight years as a Headmaster. He has worked as an educational consultant in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada and has taught across the UK, in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. Stewart’s research interests include the educational use of computer technology, citizenship and images of the self, educational leadership and organisational change. He has also published software and books to support independent learning for students studying for GCSE examinations.

Peter has been a chemical engineering lecturer for five years, leading research in to multi-phase process equipment design which leads to things like developing the processing of foods to make them both better and cheaper at the same time.

Glyn has published nine books of poetry, including The Breakage, The Sugar Mile, and The Nerve, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 2003. His latest collection Hide Now is published in September. He was awarded the E.M.Forster Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1997, and was Poetry Editor of The New Republic from 2001 to 2007. Several of his plays have been staged in London and New York, including Wolfpit, The Forever Waltz, Broken Journey, The Lifeblood (British Theatre Guide’s ‘Best Play’ at Edinburgh Fringe 2004) and Liberty, which premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe this summer and is currently touring the UK. He has also written several libretti, travelogue, and two novels, the latest of which, The Girl Who Was Going To Die, was published this year.

Catherine is a qualified solicitor and worked in Tunbridge Wells for 17 years before deciding to spend more of her time being a Borough councillor. She has held various positions on the Council and is now Deputy Leader.  Through her work with the Council she has also come into contact with many varied organisations throughout the Borough . She gets a lot of satisfaction from helping residents to resolve their problems and also enjoys the cut and thrust of debate and seeing the art of persuasion being used in the Council Chamber.

Mary currently works as an English adviser and school improvement officer for schools in Runcorn and Widnes. Prior to that she was Head of English and taught in schools in Wales for over twenty years. Originally from London, Mary has wide ranging interests from travel and theatre to film and writing, and of course her family, and is always willing to accept a challenge. She recently started up the Public Speaking Competition in Halton (now in its fourth year) hence the interest in judging at the Debating Matters Competition.

Dom has worked as a freelance science communicator and as a teacher, and spent a couple of years with Research Councils UK in Swindon, where he was responsible for their work with schools. Since 2007 he has been in charge of all Science Oxford’s activity bringing science to the ordinary people of Oxfordshire and the surrounding region. This includes activities at Science Oxford Live, and as part of the annual Oxfordshire Science Festival.

Katy read Geology with Volcanology at Bristol University before embarking on a career in Science communication. Prior to joining At-Bristol 4 years ago she worked with Explorer Dome, visiting schools in Wales and the South-west with an inflatable planetarium. From there she moved on to developing At-Bristol’s planetarium shows and then progressed to working on bigger projects, the latest of which is all about how debate and dialogue is used in science centres across the UK.

Johnjoe has been working in the area of microbial genetics for more than 20 years. He also writes popular science articles for newspapers and books.

A former secondary Head Teacher and Depute Director of Education, Frank, who studied history and politics at Edinburgh University in the 70s, is now General Manager of Mercat History Walks and Ghost Tours in Edinburgh.

Ken co-ordinates modules on sociology, social movements and mental health at Manchester Metropolitan University and is concerned with the way in which societal problems are increasingly viewed through a therapeutic gaze, and how social policy and social work practice tend to reflect a pessimistic and degrading view of humanity. His work has appeared in a number of professional journals including the British Journal of Social Work, Critical Social Policy and the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy. He has also written for the online current affairs magazine spiked and the Guardian Unlimited.

Joyce is theatre critic of The Scotsman, and also writes a political and social commentary column for the paper.  She has been a political and arts columnist, theatre critic and broadcaster for 25 years, living in Edinburgh and working for various Scottish and London-based newspapers. She also broadcasts regularly, mainly on Radio Scotland and Radio 4, and is currently a Visiting Professor in the School of Drama and Creative Industries at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh.

Alan McNeilly has a BSc (Agriculture 1968) from Nottingham University, a PhD (Endocrinology 1971) from Reading University, and a DSc (1984) from the University of Edinburgh. He is a principal investigator reproductive endocrinologist working at the MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit in Edinburgh. He is an honorary professor of the University of Edinburgh. He has a lifelong research interest in how the brain regulates ovarian function, from molecular through cell to whole animal studies to understand how to regulate fertility for contraception and treatment of infertility in patients and animals, and has published over 450 papers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, chair of the Society for Endocrinology Science Committee, 2008 Dale Medalist (Society for Endocrinology) and 2008 Marshall Medalist, SRF (Society for Reproduction and Fertility) and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Endocrinology, Chairman of SRF, and a member of the Home Office Animal Procedures Committee.

James is a second year law student at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. He previously debated in the competition, and has since sought to support it whenever possible. Aside from his studies, he is a keen musician, playing bass guitar, drums and piano. James also plays football for one of his college teams, and is a member of the University Officer’s Training Corps.

Robert is Director of MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit and a Professor in the Division of Reproductive and Developmental Sciences at the University of Edinburgh.  His research focuses on molecular mechanisms regulating the reproductive system from an atomic level through to the clinic.

Ian qualified in medicine and trained in general surgery followed by urology in Oxford and London. He joined Pfizer in 2001, where he is responsible for running clinical trials and drug development programmes for potential new medicines to treat conditions such as chronic pain, asthma, Alzheimer’s Disease, overactive bladder and endometriosis.

Mike has just completed his first year as a student at the University of Kent, studying Criminology and Sociology. He was a competitor in the 2007/08 Debating Matters Competition as a member of the Barton Court Grammar School team, who finished as runners-up at the National Final 2008.

Outside of debating Mike takes interest in American football (playing for his university team), 5-a-side football, and playing his bass guitar in local bands - at local functions and venues. Also Mike is running the BUPA Great North Run 2009 for RNIB (in a sumo wrestler costume!), so if you see him before the run give him a donation!
Mike competed in the competition because having seen some of the rounds the previous year felt it was a great way to test his knowledge of current affairs, researching skills, public speaking skills and ability to think on his feet. As a consequence of competing, Mike feels that everyone of these attributes has improved beyond recognition. Mike has remained in touch with Debating Matters becuase he feels that the oppurtunity for any student to take part in such a competition is a great one, and would like to encourage anyone to enter, as well as trying to help any current competitors to make the most of their Debating Matters experience.

Peter is a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and his professional experience includes a dam project in Kenya, numerous civil engineering projects in South Africa and involvement in the foundation of the London Eye. Peter is married with four children, lives in Stafford and when time allows, enjoys golf and rugby.

Kira manages the Cultural Events and Courses for Adults programme at the Bishopsgate Institute, a cultural institute in London. The institute has been a forum for debates since it opened in 1895. It currently organises a regular series of debates in partnership with the Institute of Ideas.

Munira has a background in journalism, lecturing and policy research, and has worked for a range of cultural and charitable organisations including the Royal Society of Arts and Tate. She is a member of Arts Council London, MLA London, a Council Member on the UK Committee of the European Cultural Foundation and is a founding member of the Manifesto Club. She did her PhD at the University of Kent on the subject of local cultural policies in the UK.

Tariq Modood is Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy at the University of Bristol. He has over a hundred publications and is a regular contributor to the media and policy debates in Britain and was awarded a MBE for services to social sciences and ethnic relations in 2001.

Iain Morley is Learning Manager at the Museum of Science and Industry, a post he has held since January 2009.  He has a broad background in museums and in particular in museum education having previously worked for Knowsley Borough Council as the Museum Service Manager and prior to that for 6 years at the Science Museum in London having started his career at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon.  Iain studied History and Politics at the University of Hull and has an MA in Arts and Heritage Management from Sheffield University.

Trevor is Visiting Professor in Public Relations at the University of Westminster and an author, business consultant and mentor. He was formerly the CEO of Chime Public Relations, Europe’s biggest PR group.

As Dean of Education at Canterbury Christ Church University John heads a faculty with 300 staff and 5000 students. John taught English and Drama at schools in Oxford and Brighton for ten years before joining the University in the 1990s, initially to teach undergraduate English and to train secondary English teachers. His experience as a speaker includes making orations (or speeches of commendation) about honorary fellows appointed to the University, such as Dame Kelly Holmes. Fortunately, his speeches have always resulted in the fellowships being conferred, but then, unlike Debating Matters contestants, he hasn’t had to try to persuade people who weren’t in favour of this in the first place.

Richard Moss is the BBC’s Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. He presents the regional section of the Politics Show each Sunday on BBC1, and reports on politics for BBC’s Look North and local radio. He’s been a journalist for 17 years, and enjoys the cut and thrust of debate with the region’s MPs.

Simon has lectured in economics, for the last seventeen years, at the Southampton Solent University Business School. He is an active researcher and has produced several research papers, and journal articles, on topics related to international financial markets, monetary economics and Marxist economics. He is a big supporter of the Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition and enjoys seeing young people develop engaged critical thinking on the serious political and socio-economic matters of our time. With a keen sense of social and economic justice he sees this as an imperative for the well-being of future generations. Simon is married with five children and lives on the coast in Sussex

cScape is a digital agency providing online services for clients like Barclays and Sony, and Para has fifteen years of experience in human resource management, and is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel.

Sarah has been with eagaheat since 2005 and is a Contracts Manager for the Installations department. She looks after all the emergency installations, for example if eagaheat are unable to repair a boiler then she attends, surveys for a new system and ensures that it gets installed as soon as possible. She visits on the day of install to ensure that everything is running smoothly and then follow up with a Quality Audit a few days later.

Teresa has held her post at Our Lady of The Rosary Catholic Church for the past 7 years, and for the past four has also worked as a funeral service arranger, which can be very challenging. Teresa has completed a counselling course and is an experienced judge for the Debating Matters Competition.

Orignally from Cheltenham, Alicia studied History and Politics at the University of East Anglia. After graduating she went to work at the Spectator magazine for the then editor Boris Johnson. More recently she has worked for Juniper Television, producers of ‘The Politics Show’ and ‘Dispatches’ documentaries for Channel 4. She currently works as a freelance writer

Stuart Murray works in the School of English at the University of Leeds where he teaches contemporary and postcolonial literature and film, and has a specific research interest in the representation of disability and health in cultural narratives. He is the author or editor of 6 books, and has been invited to give lectures and talks in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. He is also a University Teaching Fellow – an award given to recognise teaching excellence at undergraduate level.

Phaedra joined RCUK’s Public Engagement with Research team as Policy Manger six months ago. She oversees a number of projects including the flagship Researchers in Residence scheme. Prior to this she worked in the campaigning arena as Public Affairs Advisor to the British Dental Association, and before that as Public Affairs Officer for Diabetes UK. She graduated from Cardiff University with a BSC (Econ) in European Union Studies in 2003, and is an active member of the Fawcett Society which campaigns for equality between women and men.

Melanie Newman is the deputy news editor and the chief reporter for the Times Higher Education and reports on all issues of employment in higher education – pay and conditions, human resources and careers and industrial relations. She also covers party politics and is the main contact for stories from all political parties. She has a BSc from Durham University and an MSc from Essex University, as well as a Diploma in Law from City University. She passed the Legal Practice Course at College of Law.

Joanna leads the implementation of the British Library’s strategy for Higher Education and key relationship building across the Higher Education sector, helping to ensure the Library continues to play a vital role in underpinning UK research. She has taught history at University College London and Warwick University, and studied at the University of Southampton where her PhD researched the untold story of refugees and the British Caribbean during the Second World War. The story was turned into A Caribbean Jerusalem which she presented for BBC Radio 4’s the Archive Hour. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Southampton. She represents the British Library on the boards of the Research Information Network, Sconul and the JISC Infrastructure and Resources Committee.

A passionate debater and actress in her youth, Jenny studied briefly at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, and went on to gain a degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Leeds and a Masters in Analytical Aesthetics from the University of Bristol. She then spent a couple of years enjoying life in Berlin, working in the music industry.  Now back in Oxford, she is back in academia and working for the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford.

Apart from the eighteenth century, Nick specialises in Canadian literature - and was editor of the British Journal of Canadian Studies during the 1990. He also specialises in Modern Scottish poetry and has just finished co-editing ‘The Edinburgh Companion to Contemporary Scottish Poetry’. For many years past he has spent part of his annual vacation teaching in several ‘Eastern European’ countries and will shortly be going back to Serbia, which he has visited several times. He is also the fiction judge for Britain’s oldest literary prizes; the James Tait Black Memorial Awards, and is currently working his way through piles of novels that were published during 2008.

Born and educated in Dublin, Pat has been involved in the software and space industries for more than 40 years. He is a manager in software giant Logica, and has worked in France, Holland and the USA as well as Britain. His first book - on spy satellites – was published in 2007, and another is due out next year and he is also Chairman of the space group of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He is 66 years old, married with 2 grown-up children and lives and works in Surrey. See his website here.

Andrew is a lawyer by profession, holding a law degree from Leicester University (1980) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership from Exeter University (2001). He first worked as a private practice solicitor in Banbury and then as a local government lawyer at Hertfordshire County Council. Following this Andrew was the County Solicitor at Somerset County Council and then Deputy Chief Executive for Durham County Council. He took up the current post in Cheltenham in June 2006. Andrew’s interests include literature, history and maps.

After graduating from Cambridge, Jeremy studied for an MA in political science at Cornell University. Back in England he worked as a researcher in local government before beginning a ten-year stint as a censor at the British Board of Film Classification. In 1995, he teamed up with Jolyon Connell to launch The Week. As founding editor, Jeremy helped devise the magazine’s unique house style, and played a key role in its early development. Jeremy is also a co-founder of Intelligence Squared, London’s premier debating forum. He is married (to The Week’s editor, Caroline Law) and lives in west London.

Philip has worked at Northumbria for the past 19 years, for 18 years as head of subject. He is particularly interested in Nineteenth century writing, especially Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Philip has published a book on Collins and am now i