New members join UCL Council

Roger Blundell has over 30 years’ experience as a finance director in companies under both public and private ownership, including media and broadcasting, real estate, financial services and retail.  

Most recently Roger was Chief Financial Officer of investment and development company Grosvenor Property UK, where he had overall responsibility for all financial aspects of the business including overseeing its strategy and research functions. Roger’s previous roles include Group Finance Director at Kensington Group Plc, Finance Director at BskyB Interactive, and Director of Group Finance, Tax and Treasury at Kingfisher. 

Roger’s senior board experience derives not only from these senior executive roles, but also from his leadership roles in the Arts and Education sectors. Roger is a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and chairs its Audit Committee, and since 2019 he has served as a member of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee at the University of Oxford. Roger is a non-executive director on the board of the Government Property Agency where he also chairs the Investment Committee. Roger joins Council having served as a member UCL’s Finance Committee and its sub-committee, Estates Committee, since April 2022. 

Welcoming the new challenge, Roger Blundell, said: “As a prominent outward-looking university and leading centre of academic research, UCL has a fascinating history and the potential to thrive in a global environment. It is a great honour to be asked to join the Council, enabling me to bring my strategic and commercial experience gained across many sectors to help UCL address challenges now and on the horizon and to capitalise on opportunities as they present themselves.” 

Professor David Attwell joined UCL as a Lecturer in 1981, becoming Jodrell Professor of Physiology in 1995. His research interests span a wide range of neuroscience areas including the properties of cells in the brain, the physics of glutamate transporters, events leading to stroke, brain energy use and blood flow regulation, and how a fall of blood flow contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. He is a leading British neuroscientist, and over three consecutive years, 2019-2021, attained the Web of Science’s Highly Cited Researcher Recognition in the field of Neuroscience and Behaviour. 

Professor Attwell was made a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2000 and of the Royal Society in 2001. He is currently President of the Physiological Society. He has also chaired the Neuroscience grant review committee of the Wellcome Trust, and organised a highly successful four-year PhD Programme in Neuroscience. 

Following his election by and from the Academic Board earlier this year, Professor David Attwell rejoins Council this October, having previously served as a member of Council in 2010-2015.  

Professor Attwell said: “I'm delighted to be able to provide an academic's input to Council's discussions about UCL policies and strategy. I'm happy to receive suggestions from any of the UCL community on how UCL can best continue to be an outstanding university that is a pleasure to work in.” 

Dr Sandra Leaton Gray is an applied educational sociologist and Associate Professor of Education at the UCL Institute of Education. She joins Council this October following her election by and from the Academic Board’s non-professorial academic members. 

Her research field is in the area of Critical Digital Education and she has published extensively on education futures, education policy, the knowledge economy, curriculum, biometrics and artificial intelligence in education. Sandra founded the BERA Artificial and Human Intelligence Special Interest Group and is its current Chair. She has served as expert advisor and consultant to a large number of national and international organisations, among them the UK Government, the EU Commission, OECD, UNICEF and the Biometrics Institute.  

Sandra said: “I feel honoured to be joining the UCL Council at what is such an important point for UK Higher Education, and also for UCL itself, as the UCL East campus starts to come alive. Good governance is essential in these changing times, and I hope to make a useful contribution that benefits everyone across the whole UCL Community.” 

Earlier this year, Council welcomed two new student members, Mary McHarg and Shaban Chaudhary, who joined in July.  

Mary serves as the Union Affairs Officer of Students’ Union UCL, where she is also Chair of the Board of Trustees. Her remit includes oversight of strategy, operations and democratic processes of the Students’ Union as well as leading on its financial and environmental sustainability. Mary’s election to office follows a successful year as the Students’ Union UCL Activities and Engagement Officer, where she co-wrote the Student Life Strategy and represented UCL’s wide range of clubs, societies, arts and volunteering groups. She is a recent graduate of UCL’s interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences degree program. 

Shaban joins Council as the Education Officer of Students’ Union UCL, where he has already served in various capacities including as NUS delegate and Director and Student Trustee. His prior experience in governance includes policy making at different scales, from working with Camden Council, to the London Mayor’s Office, to UNDP sponsored sustainable development programmes. He has also successfully run a mentorship establishment over the past four years which has helped many students secure admissions and scholarships at top-tier institutions around the globe. He is a recent UCL graduate of UCL’s BSc in Biodiversity and Conservation.  

UCL Council Chair Victor Chu CBE said: “It is a great pleasure to welcome our five new members to Council this year. As we embark on a new academic session, I look forward very much to working closely with them all. Collectively they join us at a challenging time, as institutions globally, in the sector and beyond, face a number of unprecedented difficulties as well as new opportunities. This is also an exciting time for UCL, with the naming of UCL as Sunday Times University of the Year 2024, the opening of UCL East earlier this autumn and the countdown to UCL’s bicentenary in 2026. I am pleased that Council will have the benefit of the perspectives and expertise that each member will bring over the coming months and years ahead.” 

Image composite: Shown clockwise from top left are: Professor David Attwell, Roger Blundell, Shaban Chaudhary, Dr Sandra Leaton Gray, Mary McHarg.