Meet the committee

The current committee consists of the Principal, Director of Finance, Director of Operations, Director of Development, Tutor for Graduates, Chair of Governing body and six further members, all alumni:

Anthony Harris, Honorary Treasurer

After a successful career as a technologist and entrepreneur, I studied English at the Oxford Department of Continuing Education and in 2007 was accepted to Regent’s Park to read for an MA in English Language and Literature. I went on to study for an MA (Res) in Medieval Studies at the University of Reading and a PhD at the University of Cambridge. As well as my charity trustee work for Regent’s I am also an angel investor with an extensive investment portfolio, and a non-executive director on the board of various start-up companies and not for profit organisations. I am a Research Fellow and Tutor of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Academically, my research interests cover Old English Language and Literature, Anglo-Latin Literature, the science of computus (the calculation of the date of Easter), and the use of sciences to assist the interpretation of early texts.

Stephen Cowburn (Geography, 1996) Deputy Chair of Governing Body

I am a programme and project manager with over 20 years’ experience of delivering business change and improvement, especially with a digital focus, working for Procter & Gamble, Historic England and now at the Cabinet Office.

I served on Council/Governing Body as JCR President and subsequently as leavers’ representative before being elected as a full member in 2000. Since then I have been keen to continue to give something back to the College by supporting the strategic work and governance and have supported various individual projects and committees, including the Risk Assessment Committee and as a member of the HLF grant project board. My recent focus has been as a member of the Vision 2020 Group and in particular looking to develop our buildings estate where I am acting chair of the Banbury Road development project board.

Andrew Bevan (Theology, 2004)

After qualifying as an accountant in public practice I pursued a management career in the NHS and charity sector. I then trained for Baptist Ministry at Regent’s and served Littlemore Baptist Church in Oxford until I (supposedly) retired. Since then I have found a bit more time to indulge my lifelong passion for sailing and to be with friends, grandchildren and other family. I have also continued working with several churches, a food bank and some ministers. My academic and research interests include organisations and systems failures, particularly from a relational perspective, and ethical concerns in the post digital context and from the environmental crisis.

Since my time at Regent’s, I have worked for the UK government in a variety of economics & finance roles. Currently I am part of the UK’s mission at the International Monetary Fund, having last worked for the Foreign Office in Mumbai, and before that for the Treasury in a variety of Whitehall jobs. I am also Deputy Treasurer of the Camden Citizens Advice Bureau. I look back at my undergraduate studies with great fondness, and want to use the skills developed through my working life and other volunteering roles to help the college flourish further. COVID challenges aside, Regent’s has strengthened its offer to students each year since my studies began, making it a very exciting organisation of which to be a part.

I am a solicitor advocate specialising in dispute resolution in the City of London. I act for large corporations from all around the world, and I help them solve their most complex disputes where significant sums of money are at stake. As a former student of Greyfriars, I experienced first-hand the difficulties that arise when an Oxford college does not organise itself on a long-term and sustainable basis. It has been a real pleasure serving on the finance committee to help Regent’s to secure its own financial future.

I have seven years’ professional experience of managing endowment portfolios, initially at OUem (a £5.5bn charitable endowment fund) and latterly at Talisman Global in London, where I work in a generalist role across global equity, hedge funds, private equity, and private credit. I proposed the establishment of a dedicated Investment Committee for the college in 2019, believing that Regent’s needed a separate institutional framework to oversee its endowment assets and ensure they were being stewarded and spent appropriately. Since the establishment of the committee, I have helped the college in rationalising the number of investment managers it uses; developed our ESG initiatives; and worked to track performance of the endowment assets in a more granular manner, amongst other aspects.