Board of Governors

It carries the ultimate responsibility for the University’s educational character and mission, and oversight of its activities, including our overall strategic direction and for the management of our finances, property and setting a framework for the pay and conditions of staff.

The Board meets formally at least four times in each academic year. The majority of its member are people who are not employed by USW, known as lay members.

The Chair of the Board of Governors, Richard Lloyd-Owen, is appointed by the lay members. The remainder of the Board is comprised of the Vice-Chancellor, members of the Executive, and elected representatives from the student, academic, and professional staff bodies.

Independent Governor and Chair of the Board of Governors, Richard has more than 30 years' experience of finance, M&A and corporate relationship building. He was also previously a partner for Deloitte.

Richard grew up in South Wales and has a law degree from the University of Birmingham.

David is an Independent Governor and Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee.

David is a chartered accountant, with a career spanning more than 20 years in a variety of global finance roles in large UK corporates including Marks & Spencer and Diageo.

He has led finance teams around the world and brings a wide range of experience across all aspects of the finance function from systems and process implementation and governance to commercial finance and pricing, control and compliance, and performance management.

He is also a non executive board member at Brandon Trust, Audit Wales and Hockey Wales.

She is an accredited member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, IPD graduate, ONC public admin, NLP coach and IIP advisor. Debbie was previously Chief People Officer at Inmarsat PLC then the world’s leading satellite communications provider 2000 - 2017 and Chair of the British Medical Association ‘Living our Values’ Panel.

Independent Governor, Chair of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Audit Committee, Frances was previously a senior civil servant having worked for the Welsh, Scottish and UK Governments. Frances held a number of senior policy and delivery roles across Government covering taxation, housing, transport and health. Retired in 2022, Frances is a Commissioner with the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru and also offer project assurance consultancy for the public sector.

Ian is an Independent Governor and Chair of the College Merthyr Tydfil.

Ian is the Chief Executive of WJEC, Wales’ largest awarding body. He joined WJEC in 2002 and has been Chief Executive since 2020. When he joined WJEC, Ian was initially appointed as Deputy Director for the National Grid for Learning project, before becoming Director of IT.

Prior to joining WJEC, Ian worked for a local authority, where he was responsible for the strategic development and implementation of technology that supported both administration and more importantly, teaching and learning.

He is a member of the Joint Council for Qualifications Board.

Independent Governor and member of the Audit Committee, Philip was Chief Executive for the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales from 2004 – 2012. He is now a HE Consultant.

Assignments in recent years include advice on higher education restructuring, funding and strategy in Ireland, Trustee of JISC (the body that provides digital infrastructure and services to UK HE and FE) and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee, as well as Consultant to the 2020 and 2026 Research Assessment Exercises in Hong Kong.

Prior to HEFCW, he was Professor of Government and Technology Policy, and Pro-Vice Chancellor, at the University of Manchester.

Sanjay is an Independent Governor and member of the Audit Committee.

Over the last 20 years, Sanjay has built and operated global eCommerce businesses in retail, travel and entertainment, and led organisations in six countries across three continents.

He currently serves Amazon.com Europe in multiple capacities, including as vice President for Amazon Prime and Marketing, and member of the Management Board for A.E.C.

He served as a member of the industry panel for Committee of Advertising Practice, ASA, UK. Sanjay is a computer scientist by training, and an alumnus of the London Business School and the Indian Institute of Management.

Sion is an Independent Governor and member of Culture, People and Values Committee.

Sion has 25 years experience leading brand and marketing teams in the UK, the US and across Europe.

He has led local, national and global organisations encouraging participation in grassroots sport, and was a member of Lancaster University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Sion has a degree in European business studies from Coventry University and an MBA from Lancaster University.

Michael is the University of South Wales Students’ Union President for 26/27.

Amy is the University of South Wales Students’ Union Activities Officer for 26/27.

Jonathan has worked with USW since 2012 delivering and supporting a positive experience for the USW community; notably as Students' Union Vice-President/President, and Newport Campus Experience Officer. Jonathan is currently the Enterprise Manager (USW Careers), supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship development for students and graduates, as well leading on business start-up through core and funded projects.

Jonathan is a Fellow of AdvanceHE (FHEA), a Unison Branch Committee member, and member of Academic Board. Jonathan is a former Student Governor and past Chair of the Students’ Union Trustee Board.

Outside of USW Jonathan is an experienced Trustee, Associate of Arts Council Wales and Co-Founder of a digital content & branding business.

He brings to the role over 27 years of experience in higher education, with a deep commitment to students, staff, communities and the public purpose of universities. His work has focused on widening opportunity, improving student outcomes, strengthening inclusive learning environments, and helping institutions respond to change with care, evidence and ambition.

Before joining the University of South Wales, Osama was Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic at Aston University. In that role, he worked with academic colleges and student-facing professional services to support the delivery of the university’s 2030 Strategy. His portfolio included academic strategy, academic communities, education and student experience, employability, digital learning, academic governance, online education, inclusion, and work to strengthen institutional sustainability.

Across his leadership roles, Osama has been closely involved in organisational transformation, using data, digital tools and service redesign to improve the experience of students and colleagues. He has championed the democratisation of data, making insight more accessible to academic and professional teams so that decisions are better informed, more transparent and focused on impact. His work has also included digital transformation, enterprise service management, curriculum development, and the redesign of student-facing services to create more connected, responsive and effective support.

Osama’s earlier career included senior roles at the University of Surrey and Solent University. He began his UK academic career as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Cambridge in 2002, following earlier experience in investment banking. He has taught across areas including corporate finance, derivatives, mathematical economics, real estate finance and economics, and investment management. He has also contributed to teaching at institutions including Cambridge Judge Business School, HEC Paris, the University of Hong Kong and Copenhagen Business School.

His leadership is rooted in servant leadership, collaboration, accountability and evidence-led decision making. He remains passionate about teaching and believes deeply in the power of education to transform lives. Alongside his university leadership, Osama contributes to national advisory, governance, education, inclusion and wellbeing roles, reflecting his wider commitment to social mobility, community cohesion and the role of universities as forces for good.

Dr James Gravelle became the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor in February 2025.

Prior to becoming DVC, James was the University’s Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor for Academic Transformation, helping to lead the work to enhance our academic delivery and systems to support a sustainable future.

James joined the former University of Glamorgan, now the University of South Wales, in 2008 as a Research Assistant, before becoming a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Police Sciences. He completed his PhD and later became the Head of Policing and Security at the International Centre for Policing and Security. James was then appointed to Head of Policing and Community Care and later became Deputy Head of School.

He went on to become the Head of School of Health, Sport and Professional Practice, the Deputy Dean for the Faculty of Life Sciences and Education (FLSE), before becoming the Dean of FLSE in 2022.

Before joining the University of South Wales, Amanda held senior finance leadership roles across complex, multinational and highly regulated organisations, including FTSE listed businesses such as DS Smith. She also held roles within Lloyds Banking Group, General Dynamics UK, British Airways, and Ladbrokes.

Her experience spans financial transformation, performance reporting, data quality and strategic business partnering, supporting executive teams through periods of significant organisational change.