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The Secretary of state announces appointments to the board of the higher education funding council for England

03 March 2008

The Secretary of State, John Denham announced today the appointment of two members to the Board of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Rene Olivieri who until recently was the Chief Executive of Blackwell Publishing has been appointed Board member effective from 1 March 2008, taking over from Dr Beverly Malone who resigned in December 2006.

Robert Douglas CBE spent much of his career in Shell's senior management, and was also the Deputy Chairman of the South East England Development Agency until recently. He has been appointed Board member effective from 1 August 2008 to replace Peter Saraga, who will have completed two terms on the HEFCE Board on 31 July 2008.

Mr Denham said:

I am very pleased to be able to make these appointments. The members bring a wide range of business and public sector experience to HEFCE. I am confident that they will be able to provide strategic advice and guidance to the Funding Council in taking forward our ambitious programme for higher education.

Notes to Editors

This Press Notice applies to England Only.

  1. The Higher Education Funding Council for England was established on 6 May 1992 under the terms of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and assumed responsibility for funding higher education in England on 1 April 1993, succeeding the Universities Funding Council and the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council.
  2. The HEFCE's main functions are to advise the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills on the funding needs of higher education institutions in England and to distribute available funds. In 2007-08 the HEFCE is distributing over £7 billion to support teaching and research in 130 institutions of higher education and higher education courses at 153 further education colleges.
  3. Members of the Board, including the Chair and Chief Executive, have collective responsibility for the control and management of the HEFCE as a corporate body. The Board is responsible for developing policies and ensuring that projects, programmes and activities undertaken by the HEFCE are consistent with the overall provisions of the FHE Act and any guidance or directions issued by the Secretary of State.
  4. Rene Olivieri and Robert Douglas have been appointed for a period of three years.
  5. Rene Olivieri, until recently, was chief executive of Blackwell Publishing. Having presided over the sale of the company to John Wiley and Sons in early 2007, he became Chief Operating Officer of Wiley-Blackwell with overall responsible for its global publishing. Wiley-Blackwell is the world's second largest publisher of scientific, technical, medical and scholarly books and journals with annual revenues of $1billion. Before resigning at the end of 2007, he was also co-chair of the merger integration team and chair of the executive leadership team, the highest decision-making forum in Wiley-Blackwell. Having spent more than 30 years as an academic and scientific publisher, Rene has worked closely with academics and universities throughout the world. He is also Chair of Tubney Charitable Trust which promotes biodiversity and farmed animal welfare.
  6. Robert Douglas is a Business Consultant who was also the Deputy Chairman of the South East England Development Agency until recently. Previously he held a range of senior finance and general management roles in Shell, including two country CEO roles. He has experience in the whole spectrum of strategic and business planning, HR and service delivery and the management of performance and was heavily involved in major organisational and culture change programmes introduced by Shell. He is Chair of a local Learning & Skills Council, a Governor and Director of CILT, the National Centre for Languages, and was made a CBE in June 2005 for his services to learning and skills.