People and Remuneration Committee

Professor Elwen Evans, KC, is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and the UWTSD Group, a dual sector structure comprising Coleg Sir Gâr and Coleg Ceredigion as constituent colleges.   

Professor Evans read Law at Girton College, Cambridge, graduating with a double first: M.A. (Cantab). On graduating she attended the Inns of Court School of Law and was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1980. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002.  

Professor Evans has enjoyed a very successful career as a barrister, choosing to practice mainly in Wales. She has undertaken a wide range of legal work, specialising in criminal law at trial and appellate levels. She sits as a Crown Court Recorder having been appointed in 2001. She was Head of Iscoed Chambers for over 15 years prior.  

In 2015 she was appointed Head of the College of Law & Criminology at Swansea where she was responsible for establishing the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law.  In 2020, she was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and is credited with having led the successful growth of the Faculty during this period. 

She has served on a wide range of external bodies and committees reflecting her areas of professional experience and interest including as a Board Member of Advance HE, The Law Commission Welsh Committee, Legal Wales, The Lord Chancellor’s standing committee for the Welsh Language; Wales & Chester Circuit; Joint Tribunal of the Bar Council; Gender working monitoring group for the Crown Prosecution Service; Gray’s Inn Election Committee; Court User’s Committee; Local School Governor; Elfed Trust; accredited advocacy trainer and trainer of trainers. 

A native Welsh speaker, she is a Bencher of her Inn, has been honoured by Gorsedd y Beirdd for her services to Law in Wales and was a Commissioner on the Commission on Justice in Wales. In 2018, she was included in the top 10 of a list celebrating 100 of Wales’ most inspirational women. 

Harbhajan Singh Brar was employed as the Director of Human Resources at Imperial College, London and is currently supporting the implementation of their ERP on a part-time basis.

Harbhajan has over 39 years’ experience in the field of Human Resources and has been a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development for nearly 30 years.

Prior to joining Imperial College as their Director of Human Resources, Harbhajan was employed as the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Director of Human Resources at Sodexo UK; Director of Human Resources at the Department of Health; Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust; Director of Human and Organisational Development at Kingston Hospital and as Director of Human Resources at Lewisham College.

Harbhajan has also worked as Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations (CRER) based at Warwick University, where he taught on their ‘MA in Race and Ethnic relations’. Harbhajan has also researched and written several articles in the field of equal opportunities

Harbhajan has served on the Policy Boards of NHS Employers and NHS Professionals.

Harbhajan is a Non-Executive Director at the South Central Ambulance Service SCAS) and is also a Non-Executive Directors at the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB), where he also Chairs their People & Culture Committee.

Harbhajan also serves as a Justice of Peace.

Harbhajan has previously been a Trustee and Chair of DAAP (Drugs and Alcohol Project); Trustee of the Sodexo Foundation and a Trustee of the One Multi Academies Trust.

Professor Mark E. Smith is the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton.  As President and Vice-Chancellor he is the Chief Executive of the University and has overall responsibility for its operations.  He took up this role on 1 October 2019. Professor Smith was Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster University from January 2012 until September 2019.  He was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick.

Throughout his academic career, he has published more than 380 papers about advanced magnetic resonance techniques, helping to understand a range of problems in the field of materials physics.  He is currently a member of the executive group overseeing the National High Field Solid-State NMR Facility at the University of Warwick.

In addition to his role as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, he holds a number of external appointments including Senior Independent Member of UKRI EPSRC’s Council; and board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, chairing their Research Wales Committee. He also chairs UKRI’s Financial Sustainability of Research Group and was the former Chair of the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) 2016-2022. He has also served on the Boards of Jisc, HESA and HESCU.

He was awarded a CBE for Services to Research and Higher Education in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Paul joined the Board in 2021 and became Chair of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee in 2024.

Paul is an independent consultant and non-executive director in the education sector. He previously built and ran the education consulting practice of PA Consulting internationally. His experience is in delivering major programmes to define strategy, improve academic outcomes, deliver better services, and reduce cost. He has worked extensively with governments, regulators and funding bodies in the education sector in the UK and elsewhere and has worked with more than 30 universities.

He is Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors at De Montfort University, a trustee of the British Council and a Non Executive Director of the Education and Skills Funding Agency. He is a writer and speaker on the challenges of achieving change in universities.

Paul graduated from Durham University with a BA (Hons) in Economics and then qualified as a chartered accountant. He has worked as a consultant, programme leader and change manager in a range of organisations particularly in the public sector.

Professor Rigby commenced her role as Principal and Vice Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University in January 2025, after seven years as Vice Chancellor at Bath Spa University. 

Sue is a geologist with expertise in palaeobiology however her research interests have shifted to higher education and to cultural compacts, and how strategic oversight of culture is changing in England. Past engagement with learning and teaching has included setting up ‘Making the Most of Masters’, chairing TEF panels, the national Learning Gain Project, and the revision of the Credit Framework for England. 

Sue currently sits on the board of the Scottish Funding Council, is the Chair of the An Tobar and Mull Theatre, a Trustee of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Sue was awarded a CBE in 2026 for services to Higher Education.