Council is the governing body for the College. The accountable body is St John’s College Charity and Limited Company – Charity number 1141701 and Limited Company No 113496 (England and Wales) VAT No 334 6364 57. Council members are company directors registered with Companies House and charity trustees as defined by section 97 of the Charities Act 1993.
St John’s College Council meets four times a year in September, December, March and June. The September meeting is usually devoted largely to student matters. The December meeting is extended to include a strategy workshop with other members of College. The March meeting is largely Cranmer business and June is when draft budgets are agreed for the following year.
Elected Members
Jacqueline Sutton MBE
Jacqueline (Jacqui) Sutton is a highly experienced Aerospace industry professional with a career encompassing a variety of strategic and commercial roles for leading players in the Aerospace market.
Most recently, Jacqui held the position of Chief Customer Officer (CCO) at Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace where she was a key member of the Civil Aerospace Leadership Team. As a member of the Leadership Team, she worked closely with her colleagues to navigate Civil Aerospace successfully through the pandemic.
Since stepping down from her role as CCO, Jacqui has joined the Board of Farnborough International and Xaar Group, a technology firm based in Cambridge.
Jacqui is passionate about supporting and mentoring the next generation of leaders in the Aerospace industry and is a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity in the workplace. She is a Non-Executive Director for the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter (WIAAC), an organisation for which she has previously served as Co-Chair.
Jacqui was awarded MBE for Services to the Economy in the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours. She was an undergraduate student at St John’s College Durham in the 1980s and holds a BA Hons degree in Russian and German and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Marketing.
Kate Stephenson
Kate is a partner at Swinburne Maddison LLP, which she joined as a trainee in 2003 and has been instrumental in sustaining and growing the firm to what it is today. Described in The Legal 500 United Kingdom 2019 edition as “very professional and concise”, Kate has substantial experience dealing with all aspects of property transactions. Kate supervises and head up the Conveyancing team; however her day-to-day workload is predominately comprised of commercial property matters, acting for prominent local land owners, developers, and clients in the retail and hospitality sectors. Kate has a keen interest in social housing and works with a number of registered providers of social housing in regeneration and development schemes.
Sarah Judson
Sarah is an alumnus of Durham University, where she studied Geological Sciences.
She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
After qualifying as an accountant with Grant Thornton, Sarah has held many roles within industry and has a strong background in the PFI sector, working for both John Laing and University Partnership programmes in London where she was responsible for the operational running of over 30 SPVs (Special Purpose Companies).
She moved across into the education sector and spent several years working for Durham University working with external funders and private sector partners to secure long-term financing solutions for the development of additional student accommodation and the academic estate.
Sarah joined the Leadership team of east Durham College in February 2021. As Vice Principal for Finance and Business Planning, Sarah is responsible for the College’s financial, commercial and environmental sustainability, working with a range of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that the organisation is able to respond to strategic and collaborative opportunities as they arise. She is also responsible for estates and facilities and technical services ensuring that the staff and students enjoy high quality, industry standard resources and facilities.
In her spare time Sarah enjoys volunteering as Treasurer for Durham City Aquatics Swim Club as well as giving up her time as a qualified swimming official travelling to competitions across the North of England. She is married with two children.
Clare Louise Curran
Clare had a career in People Management spanning some 40 years, working in both public and private sector organisations, including B&Q, Automobile Association, National Government - National Care Standards Commission, NHS – Newcastle Hospitals and North Tees and Hartlepool, and Higher Education Institutions: Teesside, Northumbria and Durham. Clare led many Regional and National activities and negotiations during her career.
Clare’s last role prior to retirement was that of Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development at Durham University. Clare was a member of the Vice Chancellor’s Strategy Group, and was asked alongside two senior academics to lead on stakeholder presentations for the launch of the University’s new strategy. Among her achievements in this role, she introduced the University’s first HR Strategy, and HR IT System, new methods for recruitment and selection, developed new pay structures including the living wage and led a review of the University local pension scheme.
Clare’s roles have seen her engage in a plethora People Management activities, including Strategy, Recruitment and Retention, negotiation with Trade Unions, Pay and Reward, and Employment Law. Since retiring in 2017, Clare continues to support organisations voluntarily with her HR expertise, also giving back to the local community by volunteering.
Dr Michael Gilmore
Michael was Academic Registrar at Durham University from 2009 to 2021. As Academic Registrar he was responsible for a very broad range of institutional-wide responsibilities and functions, which touch every stage in the student lifecycle from initial applicant inquiry to graduation, and include support for the development of academic strategy and policy. Michael has played national roles as chair of the Academic Registrars Council (ARC) and chair of the national Student Finance Operations Stakeholder Group at the Student Loan Company, which was responsible, on behalf of the sector, for overseeing the operational changes required to introduce the new student fee regime.
Prior to coming to Durham, Michael was Director of Governance, Planning and Registry at the University of Leicester. He progressed to this role having previously been the head of the Academic Secretariat and Quality Assurance Office at Leicester. Before that he taught philosophy at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana in Rome and served as the Vice-Rector of the Venerable English College there.
Dr Jamie Harrison
Vice-President of St John’s College Council and Visiting Fellow in Healthcare and Religion, Jamie is Chair the House of Laity of the Church of England General Synod, is an appointed member of the Clergy Discipline Commission and an ex-officio member of the Archbishops’ Council. He is also a Lay Canon of Durham Cathedral.
For over 30 years Jamie worked as a GP, initially in Cambridgeshire but spent the majority of his career in Durham City. Here he combined clinical practice with medical education, notably as Deputy Director in the Postgraduate School of Primary Care for the region. During this time he was a GP Adviser to the English Department of Health, leading on GP recruitment and initiation for doctors arriving from Continental Europe, and was also a part-time medical officer at the high-secure Frankland Prison in Durham. He continues to work in teaching and consultancy for the NHS. He was until recently a GP Specialist Adviser to the English Care Quality Commission.
Jamie has published works on topics of vocation for doctors and clergy, governance, the nature of healthcare systems and trust between doctors and their patients. He received the Baxter Award from the European Health Management Association for the book Clinical Governance in Primary Care.
Professor Mike Higton
Mike Higton is Professor of Theology and Ministry in Durham University's Department of Theology and Religion. His post was created in 2013 as part of the ‘Common Awards’ scheme, in which the University became the validating body for most of the institutions around the country offering ordination training (and some other kinds of training) for the Church of England and the Methodist Church, and various ecumenical partners. He provides academic leadership for the partnership, working closely with all the institutions involved and with the Church of England’s Ministry Division, while also teaching in the Department and pursuing his own research.
For the first year of the job, while Mike’s family continued to live in Cambridge, the College provided him with accommodation – so he has had the experience of ‘living in’, and seeing something of the College’s life. He was not the first in his family to do so: he follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, who lived in College in the 1930s while training for ordination.
Rt Revd Robert Innes (President)
Bishop Robert was born in Wolverhampton. He studied engineering at Cambridge University and worked in the electric power industry until 1989 when he went to train for the priesthood at Cranmer Hall. Following his BA (in Theology) in 1991 he stayed to complete a PhD graduating in 1995.
Bishop Robert served in Durham for many years. He was made a deacon at Petertide in 1995 and ordained a priest the next year. He has been a lecturer in systematic theology at St John's College, Durham while serving two titles/curacies: he was ordained to the title of St Cuthbert's Church, Durham and then served a curacy at Sherburn, Pittington and Shadforth from 1997. He remained in these posts until 1999, when he was appointed as vicar of St Mary Magdalene Church in Belmont.
Bishop Robert moved to Brussels, taking his first Diocese in Europe post in 2005, as Chancellor and Senior Chaplain (i.e. the priest-in-charge) of Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Brussels; he was additionally appointed a Chaplain to the Queen (an honorary post) in 2012. He was appointed Bishop in Europe in 2014; he was consecrated as a bishop on 20 July 2014 and installed at Gibraltar Cathedral on 4 September 2014. As Bishop in Europe, his residence is in Waterloo, Belgium.
Cathrine Ngangira
Born and raised in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, Cathrine moved to the UK for a one-year experience of monastic life for young people in London. She moved to Durham to train for ministry at Cranmer Hall. Cathrine has a background in purchasing and logistics, and administration. Ordained a Priest in July 2021, Cathrine is serving her curacy in the North downs Team in the Diocese of Canterbury. She has contributed to the Modern Believing Journal (Autumn issue) on Ubuntu and Leadership. Cathrine is currently a member of the Lambeth Conference 2022 Design Group.
Nigel Robson
Nigel is a former lawyer in an international law firm, and his positions included International Head of Engineering and Construction, Global Head of Energy, and Managing Partner. He was an accredited Mediator, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has been a trustee and Chair of many organisations, bringing legal support, governance expertise, financial awareness, HR and educational experience.
As Chair of the Chamber of Commerce in the North East he focussed upon the issue of historic underperformance of many of the regions LEA schools. In addition to the issue of social injustice, he believes that education is one of the keys to breaking the cycle of social and economic deprivation. In 2003 he first joined the Board of an Academy in the North East. His involvement grew as he became Chair of a small Multi Academy Trust. He then joined the Board of United Learning Trust in 2010, and was elected Chair. During this time the Trust grew from 16 Academies to over 60. The Trust concentrated upon taking over failing schools in areas suffering from the greatest disadvantage. After completing his terms in 2019, he continues as Chair of challenging secondary academies in the North. He is a Member of the Good Shepherd MAT and of the Emmanuel Schools Foundation MAT. He was recently appointed to the Board as Chair of the Western Excellence in Learning and Leadership in Cumbria.
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