Council and its Sub-committees
The university's governing body
The Council
As Aston University’s governing body, the Council, has a duty to oversee the University’s development and to assist it to fulfil its primary objectives of teaching and research. Comprising 17 members, with a majority of independent governors (at least one of whom is an Aston graduate), as well as five staff and one student members, it carries ultimate responsibility for the University’s strategic direction, finances, property and human resource and employment policy.
The Council has specific responsibility for approving the delivery and effectiveness of the University Strategy which sets out the institutional mission and vision, academic aims and objectives and identifies the financial, physical and staffing strategies necessary to achieve them.
Members of the Council are drawn from a variety of backgrounds including industry, commerce, public service and academia. Independent members of Council play a role similar to that of non-executive directors or trustees of charities, and bring to the University a wide range of commercial and professional skills and expertise, as well as experience of the wider community. They also form a useful sounding board for the Vice-Chancellor and members of the Executive Team and provide valuable advice and help in Aston’s development and management. By becoming a member of the Council whether in an ex officio, independent or academic capacity, the individual concerned agrees to play as full a part as possible in its affairs, including membership of its sub-committees, and to accept the corporate responsibility for the Council’s decisions.
The Council's Powers are set out in University Statute 5
- Kathy Cooper CPA, CA, Consultant
Kathy started her career in Public Practice moving on to Finance Controller/Director roles in various Manufacturing/Distribution organisations in Canada. She moved to the UK and entered the IT Industry joining ICL as a Divisional Finance Director. She changed her focus to Change Management and started at Jaguar Land Rover as the Finance Change/Transformation Manager in 2001. In 2008, she was appointed to the position of Director of Corporate Audit to set up the Corporate Audit Department after Jaguar Land Rover was sold to Tata Motors Ltd. She retired from JLR in 2021 and is currently a Non-Executive Director for The Strive Group (TSG) Ltd. and a Visiting Lecturer at Birmingham City University.
She is also an accredited Business Executive Coach and NLP Practitioner, coaching and mentoring people throughout the years.
- Amardeep Gill
Amardeep heads international law firm Trowers & Hamlins' Birmingham corporate commercial team. He is nationally recognised as an expert in his field and advises clients in relation to a range of transformation and business critical projects including commercial partnerships, joint ventures, supply chain arrangements,outsourcings and cross-border commercial transactions.He has spent time working in the in-house legal departments of both public and private sector clients and holds a number of non-executive directorships.
- Dr Sue Noffke
After graduating from Aston University with a degree in Business Administration and Biochemistry in 1989, Sue Noffke joined Schroders (the British multinational asset management company) as a UK equity analyst. Sue spent the first three years of her investment career covering various sectors including insurance and general retail. Since 1993, Sue's role has been UK equity manager for a number of Schroders institutional clients. She has also been an Associate Member of the Institute of Investment Management and Research since 1992. Sue is co-manager of the both the Schroder Prime UK Equity Fund (since 2006) and the Schroder UK Core Fund (launched in March 2011). Sue became lead fund manager of the Schroder Income Growth Fund in July 2011.
The Telegraph referred to Sue as “The UK’s leading female Fund Manager”, in 2011. That same year, financial analysts Citywire said that “Sue Noffke is the best female fund manager in the business”.
Sue was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Aston University in April 2014.
Sue is Chair of the University’s Nominations and Governance Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Workforce Strategy Committee”.
- Tim Pile
Tim is Chair of The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital and a Non-Executive Director at Marshalls Plc.
Until recently, he was also Chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP
He has worked in a number of different industries such as banking, retail, marketing, consumer goods, manufacturing, as well as in the charity and public sectors, serving in various roles at such organisations as Cogent, Sainsbury's, Alliance and Leicester and Lloyds TSB.
Tim has also served on the Board (and is a past President) of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, was a trustee of the Library of Birmingham, a governor at Bromsgrove School and was on the Board of Cancer Research UK.
Tim has four children, all of whom are now "off the payroll" (if that can ever be the case!) and eight Grandchildren... and lives locally.
Interests include family, cycling (as much as possible but rather slowly!), walking (with the dog), skiing, theatre, music, sailing, various sports (vicariously) and all the usual pursuits.
- Dr Phil Popham
Phil has led businesses and company start ups around the world in a career spanning over 30 years. He spent many of those years as an executive at Jaguar Land Rover,having joined as a graduate of Aston University in 1988. He spent time based in the UK,South Africa and North America and went on to take responsibility for the company’s worldwide commercial operations as a member of the global executive team that presided over the business’ most successful period.
In 2014, he joined the British luxury yacht manufacturer, Sunseeker as CEO and oversaw a notable period of growth and a return to profitability.
In 2018 he became CEO of Lotus and lead the development of a major turnaround and growth strategy which has already delivered the world’s first British all-electric hypercar, the Lotus Evija.
In April 2021 Phil decided to move out of his full time executive career to establish his own consultancy firm which is focussed on supporting businesses embarking on transformational change.
- Professor Guy Daly
Professor Guy Daly is an experienced executive and non-executive leader.
His career as a senior leader in higher education includes, latterly, Provost at the British University in Egypt. Prior to that, he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) and, previously, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health and Life Sciences) at Coventry University). He is currently a Visiting Professor at Coventry University as well Emeritus Professor at the British University in Egypt and Honorary Senior Fellow at the Universitas Mohamediah Jakarta.
He is an experienced social policy academic with research interests in health and social care, housing, local government, and the governance of public services generally. He has overseen projects valued at c£10 million and produced four books and over 100 papers and reports. Previously he developed partnerships with Indonesia’s government and universities, not least in assisting with the development and evaluation of Indonesia’s recently introduced social insurance based universal health service. He is a member of the editorial board of the Indonesian Journal of Healthcare Research.
Professor Guy Daly also has substantial successful experience as a non-executive in various sectors including:
- Education (higher, further and primary sectors)
- Health, social care, housing
- Elected local government and economic regeneration.
Current non-executive related responsibilities include:
- Centre for the New Midlands chair of the Housing and Communities Leadership Board
- Member of Kortext Education Advisory Board
- Member of Advance HE Teaching and Learning Strategic Advisory Group
Previous non-executive positions include
- Non-Executive Director of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
- Non-Executive Director of Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust
- Member of the West Midlands Combined Authority Wellbeing Board
- Member of West Midlands (NHS) Clinical Senate UK
- Chair of the UK West Midlands Supported Housing Network
- Elected Council Member of Birmingham City Council.
- Non-Executive Director of Birmingham Heartlands Urban Development Corporation.
- Dr Nel Moore
During a 21 year career in the Pharmaceutical Industry Nel has gained wide experience in global drug discovery and development in areas of Immunology, Oncology and Anti-Infectives. As Global Product Vice President in AstraZeneca, she led the Development, Submission and Approval of ZaviceftaTM. She went on to design, build and lead the Antibiotics Development organisation as part of a semi-autonomous Antibiotics Business Unit within AstraZeneca. Until the divestment of the products to Pfizer, this development organisation supported a portfolio of four antibiotics in various stage of development and commercialisation.
Prior to focussing an anti-infectives Nel led cross functional Global Product Team for IRESSATM responsible for the 1st launch of IRESSA in Europe in 1st line for EGFR mutation positive patients, and FaslodexTM where she oversaw the 500mg world-wide label extensions.
Nel has a BSc Hons and a PhD in Medical Biochemistry from Birmingham University (UK). She is currently Executive Chair for CHAIN Biotechnology, a member of multiple global advisory board in the antimicrobial resistance space and R&D consultant to a variety of small and mid-sized biotechnology companies.
- Professor Kiran Patel
Professor Kiran Patel is Group Chief Medical Officer and Consultant Cardiologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation trust. He comes to that role in 2024 after 5years as Chief Medical Officer and Deputy CEO at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and prior to that 6 years as Medical Director for NHS England (West Midlands). He graduated from Kings College, Cambridge University in 1993 and continues to practise as a Consultant Cardiologist despite busy managerial roles. He was appointed an Honorary Professor at Warwick and Coventry Universities in 2018.
He was recognised in the HSJ Top 100 leaders in 2014 and in the HSJ Top 50 BAME leaders in the same year. In 2022 he led UHCW to win the inaugural HSJ Health Inequalities and Innovation award for work on reducing inequalities in restoration of NHS services following the pandemic. An impressive fact is that he prescribed the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial on December 8th 2020.
In the voluntary sector, he has been Chair of trustees to the South Asian Health Foundation charity (which is 25yrs old in 2024) since inception. He is a mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation which supports students from deprived communities into the healthcare sector and further education.
In healthcare policy and strategy, he has worked with NICE, the Royal Colleges and the Department of Health for over two decades. He has published papers and books and lectured widely on a national and international scale, not only in the field of cardiology, but more widely on social determinants and healthcare systems and strategy. Such expertise gleaned from both the NHS and voluntary sectors, led to him advising the Public Health Foundation of India on developing healthcare systems in 2009-10 and he also co-authored the UK Ministerial briefing for the UN Summit on non communicable disease in 2011. He served 9 years as a Non Executive Director on the board of the BMJ group to drive globalisation of education and training to achieve its mission of a healthier world (2012-2021). As part of that global health system work he recently advised the Thai government and is currently advising the Indonesian government on health system strengthening. In 2021 he was recognised at the 37th most influential UK Asian in the GG2 powerlist.
In his spare time, he loves sport – indeed, he has moved from cricket, which he played to a high standard, to football. He holds a season ticket for West Bromwich Albion FC and when not running half-marathons he enjoys attending most WBA home matches with his wife and 4 daughters!
- Nick Simkins
Nick Simkins is a Chartered Accountant who has spent his career as a Partner at leading accountancy firms in the UK. He retired in 2022 and has since taken on a number of non-executive roles. He has worked across the public and private sectors specialising in audit, governance and risk management with leading government, education, charity and not-for-profit organisations.
Nick has experience of being a non-executive director and audit committee chair at two large further education colleges as well as serving as a trustee for a number of charities. He also currently serves as a non-executive director for a housing association and a national heath and social care oversight body.
Nick is a member of the University’s Audit and Risk Committee.
