Vice Chancellor and Executive | Middlesex University

Our experienced and dedicated University Executive Team (UET) is led by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shân Wareing.

As a team and a community, we are committed to providing flexible and accessible practice-led education, impactful research and strong engagement with practice to make a difference to key global challenges.

About the Vice-Chancellor

Professor Shân Wareing

Professor Shân Wareing is the Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University. Prior to this role she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Northampton, and other executive roles she has held include Chief Operating Officer at London South Bank University and Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching at Buckinghamshire New University.

Shân’s first job was as a Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Roehampton, before she moved into the field of Education Development, during which period she was Co-Chair of the Staff and Educational Development Association. She has a track record of leading institutional transformation programmes include assessment at University of the Arts London, leading to a 12% uplift in the assessment and feedback questions in the National Student Survey sustained over 10 years, digital transformation of the student journey at London South Bank University, which won a PwC award, and recruitment improvements at the University of Northampton, leading to an uplift in recruitment of 18-year-old students, ahead of comparable HEIs.

She is Chair of the charity, Unite Foundation, Chair of Advance-HE’s Leadership and Management Strategic Advisory Group, and has published in the fields of linguistics, equality, diversity and inclusion, leadership and team development, and learning and teaching in higher education. Her current scholarly interests are leadership and governance from the perspective of diversity and inclusion, and higher education policy.

Shân studied English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford, and Sociolinguistics at the University of Strathclyde. She was a competitive rower for many years and has a rowing half-blue from Oxford. Shân holds a postgraduate diploma in Higher Education studies from the Institute of Education, University College London, she is a Professor of Teaching in Higher Education, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a National Teaching Fellow.

In her role as the Vice-Chancellor, Shân leads the University's diverse and innovative community, including staff, students and partners in an outstandingly collaborative and inclusive culture.

As the Accountable Officer to the Office for Students, Shân has responsibility for:

Overall leadership and management of the University
Overall financial health of the University
Ensuring the delivery of the University's mission, aims and objectives set out in our Strategy
Promoting and advocating the University globally, nationally and locally

Shân is the University's principal representative in articulating the University’s interests and needs to the wider world. She also plays an important role in representing Middlesex University to government, businesses, funders and to national, global and local stakeholders.

An important part of Shân's role is to deliver our University Mission and Strategic Plan to be a global university, operating at new levels of accessibility, working in new forms of partnership and developing new understandings of the world through which our growing community can influence it for the good.

Shân shapes the strategic direction of the University in partnership with the Board of Governors and is accountable to the Chair of the Board of Governors. She is also a full member of the Board of Governors.

All members of the University Executive Team report to Shân as the Vice-Chancellor.

About the Executive

Interim Chief Financial Officer

Matthew Atkinson

Matthew Atkinson is our Interim Chief Financial Officer, having joined Middlesex University in July 2024. Matthew has been involved in the education sector since 2016 – prior to this role, he was an independent adviser to education institutions and government agencies, and served on the Council and Finance Committee at the University of Bradford.

Previously, Matthew was the director of Provider Market Oversight and Finance Director of the Education and Skills Funding Agency – the body which oversees and assures £60bn spend from the Department of Education (DfE) – where he was also a member of the DfE investment committee. Under Matthew’s leadership, from 2016 to 2022 through the pandemic the DfE was the only major spend department to file clean accounts. He has written a number of articles and blogs on financial sustainability issues within higher and further education.

Matthew studied Environment Management at the University of York and was awarded his football half blue. He trained with PwC’s deal team for 12 years as a hands-on operator in distressed businesses, mergers and acquisitions, and balance sheet restructurings, and he assisted the turnaround of businesses and projects in the public and private sectors. These included HMRC real estate, the Public Private Partnership Metronet, and work in multiple sectors throughout Europe. He was seconded to the Bank of Scotland during the 2008 financial crisis. Matthew is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and an accredited member of the Institute for Turnaround.

As Interim Chief Financial Officer, Matthew is responsible for the overall strategic financial position and direction of the University, as well as our relationships with banks and pension schemes, the financial element of our relationship with the OfS and finance processes including payroll processing, tax compliance, financial regulation, treasury management, debt collection and research grant accounting, to name a few.

Chief Information Officer

James Smith

James Smith joined Middlesex University in the new position of Chief Information Officer in October 2024. He was previously at Birkbeck, University of London for 16 years in roles including Chief Information Officer, Director of Process Improvement and Corporate Information Systems and Director of IT.

James studied Computer Science and holds an MBA in Higher Education Management from UCL IOE. Earlier in his career he helped universities including Middlesex implement and develop their Banner student systems, when he worked for SunGard Higher Education (now Ellucian). He has been a Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) trustee since 2021 and is Chair of UCISA’s Corporate Information Systems Group (CISG).

With vast experience in corporate system implementation projects on both the customer and supplier side, James has worked on small- and large-scale institutional change, process discovery and improvement projects in areas as diverse as student systems, HR, payroll, finance, timetabling, and access control. He has led work to establish and embed agile working across professional services, and to improve resilience through modernised and rationalised infrastructure. In addition, James has developed a Digital Education function using technology to support academics in teaching and enhancing the student experience, and has established an integrated Information Services combining library and IT services.

In his role as Chief Information Officer, James will ensure digital technologies are integral to all strategic decisions. He is responsible for the University’s Digital Strategy, and for leading Library, IT and digital services.

Interim Chief Operating Officer

Dr Tim Westlake

Dr Tim Westlake is our Interim Chief Operating Officer, having joined Middlesex University in July 2024. Tim has over 30 years of experience working in Higher Education. Prior to joining Middlesex, Tim was Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary at the University of Sussex. Previously, he held leadership and academic roles in institutions including The University of Manchester, Cardiff University and Birmingham City University.

Tim gained a Bachelor's, Master’s and PhD in Town Planning at Cardiff University. He was a Board Member of the British Council's Education Counselling Services, Chair of Wales Higher Education International Liaison Association and Chair of the Board of the Wales International Consortium. In addition, Tim was a Member of the British Council Global Alumni Strategy Advisory Group; the British Council Technical Advisory Group Predicting the Global Demand for International Education; the UCAS Board of Directors; and a Member of the National Qualifications Information Review Steering Group.

As Interim Chief Operating Officer, Tim has overall responsibility for Professional Services across the University.

Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Student Experience

Professor Christine Broughan

Professor Christine Broughan is our Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Student Experience, having joined Middlesex in July 2023.

Christine is regarded by peers as a social justice leader and became Professor of Higher Education in 2017. She has a proven track record in higher education leadership, teaching and research. With a key role in equity, diversity and inclusion, Christine’s focus has been to deliver an excellent student experience that supports students to achieve their full potential regardless of background and/or personal characteristics. Enabling an excellent student experience is at the heart of everything Christine does and, in this regard, she has led several externally funded national and international research projects, supervised PhD students, published edited books, chapters and numerous articles.

Prior to joining Middlesex University, Christine was interim Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) at Northumbria University. Previously, Christine was instrumental in the transformation of Coventry University's teaching and learning provision over a period of 24 years. Work to promote an excellent higher education experience for students has taken Christine as far as Iraq and Libya.

In her role as Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Student Experience, Christine has responsibility and accountability for the development, implementation and monitoring of the University’s high-level strategy for Education and Student Experience.

Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Research and Knowledge Exchange

Professor Janet Jones

Professor Janet Jones is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Research and Knowledge Exchange, having joined Middlesex University in October 2024.

Janet has previously held positions including Pro Vice-Chancellor Knowledge Exchange, and Head of the College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries, at the University of Westminster. Other senior roles she has held include Dean at London South Bank University and Associate Head at the University of West of England. Prior to her higher education roles, Janet has 16 years of strong industry experience gained at the BBC in high-impact positions such as Series Editor, Executive Producer and Director of the BBC’s Canadian office in Toronto.

Janet has led large faculties and significant transnational education partnerships, and in previous roles has built external links to enhance civic, commercial, innovation and business engagement. Her focus on knowledge transfer has enhanced universities’ capacity to deliver measurable economic and social impacts. Importantly, she places student success and teaching excellence at the heart of her leadership, ensuring students benefit directly from a rich research and knowledge exchange environment. Janet advocates for flexible and agile operating models that support the connections between teaching, research and knowledge exchange. She has published in the areas of Public Service Broadcasting, Television, Journalism and Media Policy.

In her role as Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Research and Knowledge Exchange, Janet provides strategic leadership for the University’s International Campuses, civic engagement, Research and Knowledge Exchange, and commercialisation of academic activity, including innovations in qualifications and portfolio. Janet will be leading the institutional preparations for REF 2028, and the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) and work to enhance our business-to-business engagement across the organisation.

Summary of University Executive Team responsibilities

The Vice-Chancellor

Leads the organisation
Answers to the Chair and the Governors
Acts under explicit delegations
With the Executive Team, develops the strategic approach.

The University Executive Team

Ensures delivery of the University's mission
With the Vice-Chancellor, develops the strategic approach
Individually carries out specific responsibilities determined by the Vice-Chancellor.

Academic board

The Academic Board, which is chaired by our Vice-Chancellor, is made up of 30 individuals that advise on the recruitment and retention of our students, the content of our curriculum, and the assessment and examination process.

The Academic Board provides advice on:

General issues relating to the research, scholarship, teaching and courses at the University
Criteria for the admission of students
The appointment and removal of internal and external examiners
Assessment and examination of the academic performance of students
Content of the curriculum
Academic standards, and the validation and review of courses
Award of qualifications and honorary academic titles
Expulsion of students for academic reasons
Development of academic activities and relevant resources

Vice-Chancellor and the University Executive Team