Our board

Dr Tim Bradshaw - Chief Executive

Chief Executive

Tim has a wealth of experience working within higher education, business and government. He leads the Russell Group in providing representation, strategic direction, policy development and advocacy for the UK’s 24 research-intensive universities.

He worked at the Russell Group for four-and-a-half years – as Head of Policy for Research and Innovation, and later Director of Policy – before being appointed as Chief Executive. He joined the organisation in 2012 from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) where he was Head of Group, leading work on the Industrial Strategy, manufacturing, competitiveness, university-business collaboration and science and technology policy.

Previously, Tim was independent secretary to the Science Advisory Council at DEFRA and has worked for the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee as a specialist assistant and for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. He went to the University of Leicester and the Open University and has a PhD in geology and geochemistry. 

You can contact Tim via his PA, Debbie Halpenny: CEO.office@russellgroup.ac.uk

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Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell - Chair

President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Manchester

Chair of the Russell Group 2020-

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell's own research in the field of neuroscience, which is ongoing, has contributed towards major advances in the understanding and treatment of brain damage in stroke and head injury. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in June 2004 and made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 2005 in recognition of her services to science. In September 2016 she began a year-long term as President of the British Science Association.

Dame Nancy became President and Vice-Chancellor of  University of Manchester in July 2010, the first woman to lead The University of Manchester or either of its two predecessor institutions. She was the founding President of the Society of Biology, and was a non-executive Director of AstraZeneca and a Royal Society Council Member. She is currently co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester, and a member of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership Board.

Dame Nancy takes a strong and active interest in public communication of science.

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