Welcoming our new Chair of the Board of Governors Leslie Morphy OBE

Tuesday, 26 July 2016

After thirteen years as a Governor at Oxford Brookes and acting as Chair since 2012, Geoff Donnelly will formally hand the role over to Leslie Morphy OBE from August.

Professor Alistair Fitt, Vice-Chancellor, commented: “I am delighted to be welcoming Leslie as our new Chair of the Board of Governors and I have no doubt she will continue Geoff’s excellent work.

“We already know Leslie well as she has been a Governor at Brookes since 2011 and has therefore played a significant role in the direction of the University over the past five years.

“With the wealth of experience she has gained in an executive career largely in the not for profit sector and her continued non-executive roles, Leslie brings invaluable insight and expertise to Oxford Brookes. I look forward to continuing to work with her over the coming years.”

Here, Leslie talks about her career and life to date and what she is looking forward to in her new role at Oxford Brookes:

“I was born in Headington and went to school in Oxford.  

“My parents lived in Kidlington and both studied at Brookes in its earlier incarnations.  My mother was a mature student at the Oxford College of Technology in the mid-1960s and my father retrained as a maths teacher at what was then Westminster College at Harcourt Hill.  

“I left Oxford for London taking a first degree at the London School of Economics and then an MA a little later at Birkbeck College. My career has largely been in the not for profit sector including with a social enterprise, a non-departmental government body and two household name charities.  

“Ten years at the Prince’s Trust as a director running programmes for some 40,000 young people a year was followed by eight years as the CEO of Crisis UK the charity for homeless people.  The latter brought me back to Oxford to lead plans for the redevelopment of the Old Fire Station in George Street as a learning and activity centre for homeless people, a social enterprise cafe and an arts centre.  

“Since leaving Crisis I have taken on a number of non-executive positions across education, health and housing.

“I am delighted to be taking over the chair of Oxford Brookes Board of Governors, although a little daunted.  The expertise and commitment of our staff and the environment for learning and teaching which we can offer form the foundation for the challenge to provide students with an experience on which they can build their futures.

“Having been on the Board for three years already I know that my fellow Governors are a group of people with values and skills to enable the Board as a whole to contribute effectively to the continuing development of the University.  

“I am proud to have their support and guidance going forward.”