Second term of office to finish on 31st July 2022 – not eligible for immediate reappointment

Bob Walder became Chair of Bishop Grosseteste University Council in August 2016. Following school in Hampshire and studying accountancy at Portsmouth Polytechnic, Bob Walder graduated in Economics and Politics at Bristol University in 1977. He began his career working for Mosscare, a community based housing association in Moss Side, Manchester and remained in the sector for 38 years. For the last 26 years he was Chief Executive of Longhurst Group based in Lincolnshire during which the organisation grew from 800 to 18,500 homes, employing 1,000 staff and eventually building 500 new homes a year.

Bob is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has chaired several companies and regional committees in the housing sector. He was also Vice-Chairman of Boston College of Further Education and Chairman of the Boston Regeneration Company. Bob is also a Board Member of LACE Housing in Lincoln.

Sonia Barron is the Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Vocations for the diocese of Lincoln – helping those who want to explore a call to ordination. Before that Sonia was a parish priest to five rural parishes near Newark for almost five years.

Formerly a secondary RE teacher by profession, her work as Head of Department took her to schools in London, Surrey, Nottingham and Uganda; this was in addition to teaching Biblical and Religious studies at the University of Nottingham. In recent years she has championed the work of racial justice as Archbishops’ Adviser 2005-2011, Co-chair of the Archbishops’ Anti-racism Taskforce and currently serves as a member of their Racial Justice Commission whose remit over the next 3 years is to set an agenda for change, taking action to identify, respond to and root out systemic racism in the Church of England.

Sonia’s interest in higher education and commitment to issues of fairness and justice informs her contribution as a member of the BGU Council since 2019. She has recently been elected as Vice-Chair of University Council.

Other committee memberships include the Lincoln Diocesan Board of Education; Sonia is Chair of its Learning and Development sub-committee.

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Second term of office due to finish on 31/10/25 – not eligible for immediate reappointment

Chapter Clerk and Administrator, Lincoln Cathedral

After graduating in History from London University Jackie’s first job was promoting Peterborough as a new town. This job was the spur to a successful career in medical and then financial sales working all over the country before she settled down and qualified as a Human Resources professional. In this capacity A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Jackie worked for Rolls-Royce plc for over eleven years as an HR director specializing in employee development and change management. Jackie was also a volunteer adviser to the Bishop of Derby, sitting on his senior leadership team before she joined his staff specifically to implement Common Tenure, the new terms of service for clergy introduced in 2011. After three years apiece at Derby and Lincoln Cathedrals as Chapter Clerk Jackie now leads the day to day management of staff and volunteers at Wells Cathedral, coordinating the Cathedral Chapter’s strategy and plans and ensuring their implementation.

Russ Coulter is a trustee and director of the Lincoln Diocesan Trust and Board of Finance, lay member of their Bishop’s Council, as well as a member of their Audit and Mission & Ministry Committees, having previously served on Finance & General Purposes committee.
In his work for the Diocese, he is focused on how lay membership can be encouraged, identified, and trained to contribute to the landscape emerging from its current strategy for clergy development.

Now retired, Russ spent many years leading IT systems innovation in a range of national and multinational companies, always from the perspective of enhancing the business process rather than technology adoption for its own sake.

With a Master’s degree in Business Administration to add to the B. Eng (Hons) from Sheffield, he remains concerned to ensure that strategy and operations are clearly linked, and how governance can enhance business process.

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Scott Fleming has responsibility for the development and implementation of the academic aspects of the Strategic Plan, chairing relevant committees, line-management of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students), Dean of Faculty, and the Research, Knowledge Exchange and External Engagement leadership team.

Scott is a Professor of Sport and Leisure Studies and has a long-standing interest in ‘race relations’ and youth studies which form part of a wider portfolio of research linked to equality and diversity. His work embraces the social sciences and humanities, and some recent projects have been concerned with organisational cultures and aspects of sport development linked to public health. Throughout his career, he has maintained an interest in research methods and research ethics.

A former Chair of the Leisure Studies Association (2004-2009), Scott was a Managing Editor of Leisure Studies (2010-2016) and is a member of the Editorial Board of The Sport Psychologist. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and of the Higher Education Academy.

Scott is also a member of the Research Excellence Framework 2021 Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel and of the Athena Swan Governance Committee

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First term of office to finish on 31/08/24 – eligible for reappointment

Revd. Dr. Sarah Lawrence is Initial Ministerial Education phase 2 Officer for the Diocese of Lincoln and Director of Studies at Lincoln School of Theology. She was ordained in 2008 and served curacies in Lincoln and Lichfield diocese. She studied for a PhD with the University of Birmingham, completing this in 2018. She is the author of “A Rite on the Edge: The Language of Baptism and Christening in the Church of England”, published in 2019 in London by SCM Press.

Second term of office due to finish on 31/08/22 – not eligible for immediate reappointment

Following undergraduate and postgraduate study at the University of Wales, Steve lectured in Economics with an American University for four years. He subsequently joined the staff at Aberystwyth University where he held the positions of Director of Development and Director of Development and External Affairs for the next 25 years. During this period he was, amongst other things, Chair of the Wales International Consortium, Chair of Welsh Higher Education Brussels and a Member of the UCAS International Board. More recently his appointments have been in the charity sector and have included the roles of Executive Director of the Africa Justice Foundation, Chief Executive Officer of Dyslexia International and Managing Consultant to a publishing group.

First term of office to finish on 24/03/24 – eligible for reappointment

Walter is a retired civil servant having worked in HM Passport Service project managing the development and delivery of the UK’s first-generation biometric passport and more latterly in the Dept Culture Media and Sport as Broadband UK Projects Director.

His early career was in Civil Engineering with Anglian Water building new treatment plants and pipelines then progressed to Business Change Programme Management and delivery of change and IT projects.

He has been a board member of Cambridgeshire Probation Service, Chartered Management Institute, and pension scheme trustee for 2 pension funds and is now an independent member of East Lindsey District Council Audit and Governance Committee as well as Chair of the Audit Committee of another FE provider in the Grimsby area.

Dr. Sacha Mason is the Subject and Programme Lead for the Foundation Degree, BA (Hons) progression routes and MA in Professional Studies. She joined Bishop Grosseteste University in 2008 following a successful career in further education and as a primary teacher. Sacha is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and her current research and publication interests focus on Relationship and Sex Education and academic literacies.

Appointed on 2012 – eligible for continuous service

Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University

Peter Neil was born on the Isle of Bute on the west coast of Scotland. After working as a teacher of modern languages in Scotland he moved to Belfast where he became a Senior Lecturer in Education at Queen’s University Belfast. Whilst at Queen’s he completed a PhD in Education and began studying Theology. In 2003 he took up the role of Director of Education and Lifelong learning at Aberystwyth University, subsequently returning to his native Scotland as Head of the School of Education at the University of the West of Scotland. With a wide range of research interests centred on education and on theology, Professor Neil has written books on language teaching, Continuous Professional Development and teacher mentoring. He has researched topics ranging from language education to school leadership and ordinary theology, publishing in academic journals and speaking at international conferences. He is an ordained Anglican priest and has served in the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Appointed on 23/3/18 – eligible for continuous service

Assistant Bishop Diocese of Lincoln

Dr Nigel Peyton retired as Bishop of Brechin in the Scottish Episcopal Church in 2017 and was previously Archdeacon of Newark, Ministry Development Officer and parish priest in the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham.

His governance experience includes service as a Governor of Abertay University Dundee, Chair of Trustees of St Margaret’s Residential Home for the Elderly Dundee, Non-Executive Director of the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, school governor and magistrate in Nottingham.

Nigel has degrees in history and in theology from Edinburgh University and held the Scottish Fellowship at Union Theological Seminary New York. His published Lancaster University doctorate explored contemporary Church of England Parish Clergy. An Honorary Scholar at Liverpool University Management School, Nigel’s continuing academic research focuses on Christianity, organisation and social context. He is passionate about stimulating faith in public life, inspiring young people and lifelong learning and access for less likely students.

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