Directors

Sharon Witherspoon is Director of the Nuffield Foundation (appointed in 2012). She currently leads our Open Door programme, covering work on poverty and disadvantage, the financial circumstances of older people, constitutional issues, general work on strengthening the role of evidence in policy, and areas not covered by other programmes. Sharon also heads our capacity-building work in quantitative skills for social science undergraduates.

Before joining the Foundation in 1996, Sharon was a senior researcher at the Policy Studies Institute and the National Centre for Social Research (formerly Social and Community Planning Research). There she was responsible for the design and statistical analysis of various large scale studies, as well as being one of the original researchers for the British Social Attitudes Survey series.

Sharon is a member of various strategic bodies supporting rigorous social science research. She was awarded an honorary MBE for services to social science in 2008.

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James Brooke Turner is the Foundation's Finance Director, and is responsible for the management of the endowment and financial administration.

Since joining the Foundation in 2001, James has also been involved in various projects exploring some of the distinctive features of investing charitable funds and what this means for charitable endowments in particular.

James previously worked for the Church Commissioners, the Church Urban Fund and as Director of Finance and Resources at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. He has been a founder assessor for the National Lottery and a freelance charity consultant. James studied the History of European Art at the Courtauld Institute, and holds professional qualifications in tax and as a Company Secretary.

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Josh Hillman joined the Foundation in 2008 as Director of Education. He leads our work in education, including grant programmes in a number of priority areas, as well as our grant-funded and in-house programmes in science and mathematics education.

Formerly Head of Education Policy at the BBC, Josh was responsible for the development of education policy for the BBC’s output across media for children and adults, including partnerships with government, other public sector bodies, and research organisations.

Josh was previously Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research and a research officer for the National Commission on Education.

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Teresa Williams joined the Foundation in 2012 as Director of Social Research and Policy.

Teresa leads our grant programmes on Children and families and Law in society (mainly related to civil and family law), which account for much of our social research spending. She is a member of Main Panel C of the Research Excellence Framework 2014.

Before joining the Foundation, Teresa was Head of Access to Justice Analytical Services and Chief Researcher at the Ministry of Justice. She has been a researcher at senior levels in the Home Office, the Government Social Research Unit at the Treasury, and the then-Department of Social Security. Her responsibilities included welfare to work, child maintenance, and a range of criminal, civil and family justice issues.

Teresa began her career as a quantitative researcher at the National Centre for Social Research.

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