St George's leadership team

Vice-Chancellor

Professor Jenny Higham
Email: Jenny Higham
Executive Assistant: June Phillips
Phone: 0208 725 5008.

Professor Jenny Higham joined St George’s in November 2015 and is responsible for directing all activities and developments at the university. Professor Higham led the creation of the new St George’s Strategic Vision 2030, which identifies the values and strengths that make St George’s a distinctive community and sets out how we will sustain our excellence and impact in education and research.

She was the first female Chair of the Medical Schools Council, the representative body for UK medical schools. She has been actively involved in academic policy and delivery for a number of years, both in the UK and internationally and is on the university sector boards of UUK (Universities UK) and UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association). Alongside her role as Vice-Chancellor, Professor Higham continues clinical practice as a consultant gynaecologist.

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Deputy Vice-Chancellors

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education)

Professor Jane Saffell
Email: jsaffell@sgul.ac.uk
Executive Assistant: Samma Durand
Email: sdurand@sgul.ac.uk
Phone: 0208 725 5336.

Jane Saffell is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at St George’s, University of London and Professor of Neurobiology and Bioscience Education. She leads a broad education portfolio with responsibility for strategic development across teaching and learning, student experience, portfolio growth, access & participation and student outcomes.

She is a member of the OfS TRAC Development Group, was awarded a National Teaching Fellow by Advance HE in 2015 and was for many years a member of BBSRC Grant Committee D (Molecules, Cells and Industrial Biotechnology).

Jane joined St George’s in 2016 after 16 years as an academic at Imperial College London in the Faculties of both Natural Sciences and Medicine. Her career spans research into the role of adhesive interactions in nervous system regeneration, teaching innovation, and senior leadership of education. She was Deputy Head of the Division of Brain Sciences and led the Department of Medicine to Bronze and then Silver Athena awards.

PhD and postdoctoral research at Guy’s Hospital (King’s College London) followed a BSc in Biochemistry at Imperial. Jane grew up in Kenya and was the first person in her family to go to university. On arriving in the UK she worked in administration at the Royal Society of Arts for three years to gain home student status and is now a Fellow.

Jane has received teaching awards and medals for innovative approaches that give students insight into knowledge-creation and the socio-politics, creativity and culture of research.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise)

Jon-Friedland-230x345 Professor Jon Friedland
Email: jfriedla@sgul.ac.uk
Executive Officer: Cheryl Watson
Email: cfurness@sgul.ac.uk
Phone: 0208 725 4942.

Jonathan Friedland works to develop and enhance the university strategy of pursuing excellent and ambitious research, both responding to major and emerging healthcare challenges and delivering significant societal impact. In addition, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor helps foster a culture of enterprise involving diverse partners, including St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Chief Operating Officer

Mr Paul Ratcliffe
Email: paulratcliffe@sgul.ac.uk
Executive Assistant: June Phillips
Email: juphilli@sgul.ac.uk
Phone: 0208 725 5008.

As Chief Operating Officer, Paul is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and has responsibility for the vast majority of St George’s Professional Services. He is also the executive lead across a number of areas of the University, including strategic planning and risk, audit and efficiency.

Previously, Paul had a number of leadership roles at Imperial College London from 2007 until 2016. As well as being responsible for a number of areas across the School of Medicine, he also worked internationally as Project Manager, leading Imperial’s responsibilities in setting up the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore.

Prior to Imperial, he worked in other universities and as an Education Management Consultant for the NHS.

Paul is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He is also an active member of the Association of Heads of University Administration, is the Regional Convenor for London and a member of the National AHUA Executive Committee. In his spare time, Paul is Vice Chair of the Board of Governors and Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee at a local Primary School.

Finance Director

Miss Susan McPheat
Email: smcpheat@sgul.ac.uk
Phone: 0208 725 0395.

Susan McPheat is Director of Finance and responsible for all finance activity at St George’s, which ranges from collecting student fees and paying invoices and expenses, to monthly and annual financial reporting and returns to Office for Students. Susan is also responsible for payroll and the Planning team report into her.

Senior management team

The senior management team consists of the below deans, directors of institutes and directors of professional services in addition to the above senior leadership team.

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