President
Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein
Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein is the President of City St George's. Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein joined City, University of London as the University’s President in June 2021. Prior to that he had served as the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security since 2015. During that time, Anthony’s research was based at The Alan Turing Institute and he held a Chair in Software Systems Engineering at University College London (UCL). Prior to this, he was Dean of the UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences and Head of UCL Computer Science. His scientific work is in the broad area of systems engineering.
Anthony has strong personal links to City; he was a Professor and the Head of Computer Science at City between 1994 and 1997, prior to his appointment at University College London. In 2018, Anthony was awarded an honorary degree by City for his outstanding contribution to science.
He is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London, the University of South Australia and at the National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, Japan. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), an elected Member of Academia Europaea (MAE) and a Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute (FCGI).
Learn about the structure of City St George's, University of London.
Professor Elisabeth Hill, Deputy President & Provost
Professor Elisabeth Hill has been appointed to role of Deputy President & Provost at City St George's.
Professor Elisabeth Hill joined legacy City as Deputy President in September 2022. She has responsibility for shaping and delivering the Strategic Transformation Programme to enable the realisation of City’s vision and strategic plan (2022-30). Elisabeth is the senior lead for delivery of the requirements and benefits of the merger.
Prior to joining, Elisabeth held various leadership roles at Goldsmiths, University of London including Deputy Warden, ProWarden Academic, Head of the School of Arts & Humanities, and Head of the Department of Psychology.
Elisabeth is Professor of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, completing a BSc (Hons) Psychology at Lancaster University and her PhD at the Medical Research Council’s Applied Psychology Unit (now Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit), graduating from the University of Cambridge. She subsequently worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge and as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London.
Elisabeth’s research focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders, and particularly developmental co-ordination disorder (sometimes referred to as dyspraxia or DCD) and autism, as well as the relationship between cognitive, social, and motor development in typical and atypical populations, and their broader impacts on mental health, academic and employment outcomes. Further strands of research within this sphere consider the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on these developmental relationships, and their impact on children and their parents within daily life, educational experience, and outcomes.
Executive Dean for the St George's School of Health and Medical Sciences
Professor Natalie Armstrong
Professor Natalie Armstrong is the Executive Dean of the School of Health and Medical Sciences at City St George’s, University of London.
She holds degrees in Politics & Sociology (University of Warwick), Medical Sociology (MSc, Royal Holloway), and a PhD (University of Nottingham). Her career includes roles at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Warwick, and University of Leicester, where she became Professor of Healthcare Improvement Research and Head of the Department of Health Sciences.
Currently, she serves as Deputy Head of the College of Life Sciences and a Non-Executive Director for the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group. She also leads research within NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East Midlands and the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration.
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Professor Jon Friedland - Vice-President (Research & Innovation)
Professor Jon Friedland is a leading figure in infectious disease research and leadership. His dual role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and Professor of Infectious Diseases at legacy St George's, University of London reflects his extensive experience in both fields. Friedland has further solidified his expertise by publishing over 240 peer-reviewed papers, invited editorials and reviews, and 3 books.
Friedland's leadership extends beyond academia. He chaired the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Expert Working Group on COVID-19 Therapeutics, demonstrating his expertise and ability to guide critical decision-making processes during the pandemic. This dedication to translating research into practical applications is further evidenced by his recent appointment as President-elect and Secretary General of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).
Professor Juliet John - Vice-President (Education)
Professor Juliet John (FRSA, FEA) joined legacy City in September 2020 as the Dean of Arts & Social Sciences. She was previously Hildred Carlile Chair of English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London from 2012-20.
Before joining Royal Holloway, she was Professor of English at the University of Liverpool and had spent 20 years working at institutions in the North West of England - the University of Manchester, the University of Salford and Edge Hill University. An internationally recognised Dickensian, she is academic advisor to the Dickens Museum, has advised the Museum of London, is a Fellow of Gladstone’s Library and twice a Trustee of the Dickens Society of America.
While at the University of Liverpool, she founded and led the Gladstone Centre for Victorian Studies for a decade and was PI on the AHRC-funded Gladstone Cataloguing and Annotation Project. She is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the English Association, a strategic reviewer and member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Peer Review College.
Professor Susannah Quinsee - Vice-President (Digital & Student Experience)
Professor Susannah Quinsee is Vice President (Digital & Student Experience) and Senior Diversity Ambassador for Race Equality at City. She leads on the University's response to digital transformation and how this will impact on the student experience. Susannah is a Lego Serious Play facilitator and uses this in many aspects of her work. Previously Director of Learning Development and Chair in Learning and Teaching Development at the University, she has also worked as a lecturer and in academic support roles at a number of other higher education institutions in the UK, in addition to leading on large scale institutional change projects.
In 2017, she was appointed as a Learning and Teaching Excellence Ambassador by the Higher Education Academy to promote educational development. In 2011, Susannah was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship. Susannah’s current research focuses on playful leadership and change management. She has undertaken consultancy work for other Universities and national agencies including the Centre for Excellence in Leadership and the Leadership Foundation, now part of AdvanceHE.
Dr Sionade Robinson - Vice-President (Enterprise, Employability, & Engagement)
Dr Sionade Robinson is an alumna of legacy City and formally joined its Faculty of Management in the Bayes Business School in 2010, as Course Director for the Full Time MBA Programme. She then led the globally ranked MBA Programme as Associate Dean, developing and teaching a range of marketing, consulting and leadership courses on MBA, MSc and Undergraduate programmes as well for Executive Education.
Prior to re-starting her academic career, Sionade had worked for many years as a management consultant. Sionade began her career with Boston based consultancy The Forum Corporation in strategy implementation for clients such as British Airways, the BBC and BP. She also worked for operational improvement consultancy Celerant, now Hitachi Consulting before founding her own firm which advised blue chip companies on implementing strategies of service excellence, customer loyalty and strategic management of customer relationships.
From January 2020, Sionade was appointed to the role of Associate Dean of People and Culture to lead an increased focus on EDI in the School and enjoys serving, with excellent cross institutional colleagues, on a variety of the University's EDI committees. Sionade is affiliated with the Centre for Innovation and Disruption and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Professor Jessica Jones Nielsen - Assistant Vice-President (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI))
Professor Jones Nielsen joined legacy City in March 2013. She is a Reader in the Department of Psychology and serves as the Assistant Vice-President (EDI).
Professor Jones Nielsen was awarded a PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Florida, United States in 2010. Her PhD research investigated treatment adherence among a national sample of Hispanic primary care patients using a patient-centered culturally sensitive healthcare model.
After completing her postdoctoral clinical training at Duke University's Counseling and Psychological Services in 2011, she worked for two years as a Research Associate at Imperial College London's Department of Primary Care & Public Health before taking up her present post.
Helen Watson
Helen Watson has been appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer at City St George's.
Helen joined as Chief Operating Officer in February 2022. Helen came back to the University after five years at Goldsmiths University of London, where she was Chief Operating Officer and Registrar and Secretary. Before that she worked for six years at the University of Oxford where she was Director of Planning and Resource Allocation, Head of the Council Secretariat and a Fellow of Exeter College.
Helen worked previously at legacy City, from 2001-2010. She held a variety of roles including Head of Administration for the School of Allied Health Sciences and Deputy Academic Registrar; she also set up and lead City's Strategy and Planning Unit. Helen read music at Exeter College, Oxford and has a Masters in Higher and Professional Education from the Institute of Education.
Helen is an elected member of the Executive of the Association of Heads of University Administration (AHUA). She was previously on the Board of the Higher Education Strategic Planners Association (HESPA).
Mark Hollingsworth
Dr Mark Hollingsworth joined City, University of London, in October 2022 as Deputy Chief Operating Officer and has decades of experience in Higher Education. Formerly at the University of Birmingham for five years as Director of Academic Affairs, Mark has also worked at Warwick Business School and Loughborough University among others.
Mark line-manages all of the School Operational Leads (Directors of Operations; and School COOs) and central Professional Services Directors (Academic Registrar; Director of Careers and Employability; and Director of Student Services), and is responsible for all of the Professional Services staff in those Schools and Directorates.
Mark holds a number of non-executive positions outside the University and the sector, and has been tasked with leading panels undertaking independent reviews of HE services at both departmental and institutional level in the UK, Europe, and the ASEAN region.
Matthew Such
Matthew is the Senior Director of Operations and is responsible for leading a large professional administration team within the School of Health & Psychological Sciences (SHPS).
Working with colleagues across City, University of London, the Senior Director of Operations provides high-level management support for the effective operation of programmes and the associated student experience in the School. The Senior Director of Operations is a member of the School Executive and Senior Management Team and supports the Dean with the strategic development of the School.
Matt has held senior roles in a wide variety of higher education departments, with experience of working for a Students’ Union, Registrar’s department, national complaints ombudsman and several Schools at City.
Matt holds an MSc in Information Technology Security.
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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