We are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Ash Amin, Professor Ann Phoenix, and John Pullinger to our Board of Trustees.
Together with existing Board members, the new Trustees will oversee and shape the Foundation’s work to advance educational opportunity and social well-being, which has grown in scale and ambition in recent years – in 2019 we committed over £20 million in charitable expenditure. The new Trustees bring distinctive expertise – as well as commitment to the Foundation’s charitable aims – that will strengthen our role as an independent funder seeking to improve people’s lives. The new Trustees will begin their five-year terms in September 2020.
Professor Ash Amin FBA, FACSS, CBE is 1931 Professor of Geography and Fellow of Christ’s College at the University of Cambridge. He is known for his work in urban, cultural and economic geography and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the British Academy, for which he was Foreign Secretary and Vice President from 2015-2019. Formerly Head of Geography at the Universities of Cambridge and Durham, Professor Amin has also held Fellowships and visiting positions at universities in Europe, the US and China. He was the founding co-editor of the Review of International Political Economy and was awarded a CBE in 2014 for his contributions to social science.
Professor Ann Phoenix FBA, FACSS is Professor of Psychosocial Studies at the Institute of Education, University College London and Kerstin Hesselgren Guest Professor at Umea University in Sweden. She is known for her work on social identities, psychosocial processes, parenting and youth and is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences. Professor Phoenix was previously Co-Director of the Thomas Coram Research Unit and Professor of Social Science and Developmental Psychology at the Open University. She has played a leading role in increasing understanding of mixed parentage social identities and their development over time.
John Pullinger CB, CSTAT, FACSS is Visiting Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London, President of the International Association for Official Statistics and member of the Board of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. He was previously UK National Statistician, President of the Royal Statistical Society and Chair of the United Nations Statistical Commission. He also held the post of Librarian and Director General for Information Services at the House of Commons. John was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2014 for services to Parliament and the Community.
Chair of the Nuffield Foundation, Professor Sir Keith Burnett said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of the Foundation’s new Trustees, who are all exceptional in their respective fields and deeply committed to the vision of social well-being that has inspired the Foundation since it began its work in 1943. I thank them for taking on this responsibility at such a crucial time, as COVID-19 threatens new difficulties for people of all ages and backgrounds and exacerbates existing challenges.”
The new Trustees succeed Professor Lord John Krebs and Professor Terrie Moffitt, who are stepping down from the Board having served 10 and 12 years respectively. Paying tribute, Sir Keith Burnett said: “I would like to thank our eminent outgoing Trustees who have shown such dedication and insight throughout their period of responsibility, Professor Lord John Krebs and Professor Terrie Moffitt. We have challenged ourselves to make a difference and they have applied rigour and purpose to our efforts. To witness their many strengths applied to the causes of justice and social progress has been inspiring and I thank each of them sincerely for all they have taught me and the Foundation along the way.”
