Our People
Meet the team and advisory board of RISE
The RISE Team
Lord David Willetts
CO-CHAIRLord Willetts is a former Universities Minister, renowned and respected for his work in the education sector, and has written widely on economic and social policy having previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit.
Prof. George E Holmes
VICE CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF BOLTONWhen appointed to the post of Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the university in 2005, George became the youngest university head in the UK. He has been at the university now for over 12 years and holds a Doctorate in the field of Education. In 2002 he was appointed by the then Secretary of State for Education as advisor to the Department.
Prof. David Hopkins
EDUCATION POLICY LEADDavid is currently Chair of Educational Leadership at the University of Bolton, as well as being Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Education, University College London and the University of Nottingham. Previous roles include: Chief Adviser to three Secretary of States on School Standards in the UK, Dean of Education at the University of Nottingham.
Simon Blagden CBE
CO-CHAIRSimon is the non-executive Chairman of Fujitsu with 30 years business experience in the IT and Telecoms industry. He was appointed MBE in 1997 for services to export and was appointed CBE in 2016 for services to the economy.
Dr Antony Mullen
RESEARCH ASSOCIATEAntony has a Ph.D. from Durham University and has previously worked in secondary and higher education, in teaching and research roles. He worked in higher education market research prior to joining RISE.
Advisory Board
Meet the RISE advisory board
