ULAW - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- CEO of Global University Systems
Aaron Etingen is the CEO of Global University Systems, leading a team of over 1500 employees and ensuring that innovation, creativity and a strong commitment to high standards are embedded across the entire group.
With a background in the finance and banking sectors and strong management credentials, he led GUS from a small business school with 4 students to a global organisation. It now has more than 40,000 students and alumni from 180 countries, and a growing presence worldwide.
After reading Economics at Queen's University of Belfast and having gained blue-chip commercial and operational experience, Adelbert specialised in finance, qualifying as an ACCA accountant.
Adelbert brings a wealth of financial leadership experience from both educational and commercial sectors internationally. He has managed complex structures and highly performing finance teams in rapid change settings. His focus is on driving sustainable top and bottom line growth, through the provision of stable financial controls, highly engaged teams, insightful analysis and effective board-partnerships.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Academic Standards Committee
Douglas is the former Chief Executive of the UK's independent Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), whose role is to ensure academic standards are maintained and that student learning opportunities are of the highest quality.
Douglas held Executive roles there for 20 years. Douglas now provides independent international consultancy services related to higher education and is the President of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).
He holds a number of non-executive director roles in education and regulation, including being a member of the Boards of Qualifications Wales, Cilex Legal Regulation, South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, Stroud and Cotswold Alternative Provision School and Wynstones Ltd.
Katy joined the College of Law in 2012, initially supporting a number of our Northern campuses in an operational HR Business Partner role. Since then she has been promoted into increasingly strategic and senior positions, including Head of Talent and Employee Relations and HR Director; in 2022 she joined the Executive Board as Chief People Officer (CPO).
As CPO, Katy has a team of over 20 people in the UK and a linked HR service in GUS Education India. Her focus within the Executive will be to advise on and ensure the alignment of our people strategy with the University's 5 year plan, including people services, reward, benefits, recruitment, development and systems.
Katy has previously held HR positions in legal practice and the Department for Education.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Audit Committee
Lea has 30 years' experience in financial services and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. She has held senior leadership positions at JP Morgan, HSBC, and Credit Suisse, spanning risk management, capital markets, equity derivatives, asset management and private banking.
Lea is an alumnus of the University, having completed the Graduate Diploma in Law at the College of Law. She also holds degrees from Duke University (BA), London Business School (MSc Finance), and Queen Mary School of Law (Master of Laws in Banking and Finance).
Joining The College of Law in 1997 Lesley's first role was that of Head of Operational Services for the London Bloomsbury Centre. Appointed Centre Director in 2012 she has been an integral member of the University's senior management team throughout the transition from charitable status to privately owned University. Appointed Chief Operating Officer in July 2016, Lesley now assumes responsibility for the delivery of the University's operational services.
Lesley has previous management experience in The University (NLS) and Law Firm (Jones Day) sectors.
Lord Grabiner has been a life peer of the House of Lords since 1999. He is currently Master of Clare College, Cambridge.
Lord Grabiner is a commercial lawyer with a substantial court, arbitration and advisory practice. Specialising in banking and finance, oil and gas, civil fraud, competition and merger investigations and shareholder disputes, Lord Grabiner is highly experienced both as an advocate in the High Court and as arbitration counsel. He also sits as an arbitrator in domestic and international arbitrations.
Job Titles:
- Role of President of the Supreme Court
Lord Neuberger was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1974 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1987, receiving a knighthood in 1996 when he became a High Court Judge. He was made a life peer as Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury in 2007.
Lord Neuberger took up the role of President of the Supreme Court in October 2012 - overseeing some of the UK's most high-profile cases - before retiring from the role in September 2017.
Job Titles:
- Non - Executive Chairman of the Support through Court
Having read Philosophy as an undergraduate, Peter switched to law qualifying as a Barrister at the Chancery Bar specialising in property and land law. Peter began his career in legal education at BPP Law School in 1997 as a lecturer on the Graduate Diploma in Law and Bar programmes. He served as Dean and CEO of BPP Law School from 2003 to 2017 and was a co-founder of BPP University.
Peter is non-executive Chairman of the Support Through Court, a major legal charity which supports litigants in person through the civil and family courts.
Patrick has responsibility to develop and embed EDI strategy at the University, ensuring that the EDI agenda is inherently considered and factors in everything that we do.
Previously, Patrick was Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Manchester for over 13 years. During this period, he was a member of numerous national committees in relation to diversity and inclusion. He is currently a commissioner with the Disabled Students' Commission (DSC) and is Deputy Chair of the Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel for Research England's Research Excellence Framework 2021.
Patrick also has over 16 years' experience in the field of careers information, advice and guidance. This role included working with major graduate employers to develop ‘Positive Action' initiatives such as mentoring and internships targeted at underrepresented groups, to help increase their employability.
Stephen has held senior strategic leadership roles within higher education, with extensive experience in organisational change and service design. He has successfully led the implementation of student systems, authoring and presenting on the subject.
Alongside these roles he has been actively involved with the Academic Registrars' Council, serving on its national Executive for over five years. He also worked closely with UCAS, influencing national policy and has served as a member of the UCAS Council for three years. Additionally, he is an external reviewer for Aberystwyth University's senate examination boards.
Stephen holds a Bachelor's degree in Theology and a Master of Business Administration degree. As Registrar he leads academic administration within the University.
Job Titles:
- Group Managing Director of GUS
Valery is the Group Managing Director of GUS, responsible for group shared services and non-academic operations.
Valery is an alumnus of the University, having completed the Graduate Diploma in Law at the College of Law. Valery also holds a BA (Hons) Political Science, Ethics, Law and Economics from the University of Toronto, an MSc International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Outside GUS, Valery is involved with a number of charities.