School Advisory Board

She is a Chartered Banker and has enjoyed an extensive career in financial services working in Retail, Corporate and SME banking. Her previous roles include Managing Director of Santander Business in Santander UK, and Head of SME Strategy for Virgin Money.
 
She has been involved in transformational fintech projects and alliance partnerships in the UK and Europe and the successful delivery of new operating models, systems, and culture. She has been actively involved in the diversity agenda for many years.

She has more than 20 years of experience as a senior U.S. government official, as the first Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy in the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Administration of President George H.W. Bush, and as the Assistant Director for International Affairs in the White  House Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Reagan Administration.  She served as a Senate confirmed member of the Oversight Board of the Internal Revenue Service in the Administrations of President George W. Bush and President Barack H. Obama. 

Ms. Wince-Smith is also the President and Founder of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC), engaging leaders from competitiveness organizations from around the globe.  Ms. Wince-Smith is a member of Corporate and Non-Profit Boards of Directors, Advisory Committees, and Philanthropic Organizations.  She previously served on the Smithsonian National Board, the Secretary of State’s Committee on International Economic Policy, the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation and, the Board of Governors of Argonne National Laboratory.  She served as Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Competitiveness and as a Public Director of NASDAQ-OMX.  

Ms. Wince-Smith currently serves as a Commissioner on the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, as a member of Purdue University’s Strategic Research Advisory Council (SRAC), and as a member of the Council of Japan’s Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum.  She serves as a member of Marquette University’s External Advisory Board for Corporate Engagement, as a member of the Queen’s University International Advisory Committee for the Management School, as a member of UNICEF’s Advisory Group, as a member of the Advisory Board of the Delphi Economic Forum, and as an Independent Advisor to Delos Living, LLC.  She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Mycenaean Foundation, and as a Trustee of the American College of Greece (ACG).  As an expert in technology commercialization, Ms. Wince-Smith serves on the Board of Directors of Aerolase, Inc., NanoMech, Inc., and Q-Net Security, Inc. 

Ms. Wince-Smith graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College and earned a Master’s Degree in Classical Archaeology from King’s College, Cambridge University.  She received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Michigan State University, an Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration from the University of Toledo, an Honorary Doctorate of Law honoris causa from the Queens University Belfast, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and, most recently, an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of South Carolina. 

Ms. Wince-Smith is married to former Deputy United States Trade Representative Ambassador Michael B. Smith and resides in McLean, Virginia.  Her two sons are graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy and are currently serving as officers in the U.S. Navy and Marines Corps.

As Provost, he headed up Bentley's progress to university status and EQUIS and EDAMBA accreditations. AACSB and NEASC accreditations were reconfirmed during this period in addition. In line with his university-wide role, he held a joint appointment as Professor in the Information & Process Management and Sociology departments. He is currently an Associate Director of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Quality Services, Brussels, Belgium and also an Honorary Visiting Professor in the University of Loughborough's School of Business & Economics in the UK. Previously, he was Professor of Information Systems and Research Director in the Department of Information Systems at the London School of Economics (LSE). Before joining LSE, Galliers served as Lucas Professor of Business Management Systems and Dean of Warwick Business School in the UK, and earlier as Foundation Professor and Head of the School of Information Systems at Curtin University in Australia. He has held Visiting Professorships at the LSE; King's College, London; Brunel University (UK); the Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales; Bond University, Australia; Hong Kong City and Polytechnic Universities; University of St Gallen, Switzerland; University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; National University of Singapore, the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, Belgium and INSEAD, France. He serves on the international advisory boards of a number of business schools, including those at the University of Tilburg in The Netherlands; Turku University, Finland and the National University of Ireland, Galway. He was a member of the EFMD's EQUIS Accreditation Board for the period 2009-2016 and serves on the Chartered Association of Business Schools (UK) Management Committee for its Academic Journal Guide since 2012. He holds an AB (honors) degree in Economics from Harvard University; a Master's degree with distinction in Management Systems from Lancaster University; a PhD in Information Systems from the LSE, and an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Turku School of Economics & Business Administration, Finland. He is the editor-in-chief of The Journal of Strategic Information Systems; one of eight leading IS journals recognized by the Senior Scholars of the Association for Information Systems. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), and the Association for Information Systems (FAIS), of which he was President in 1999. He received the AIS LEO Award for exceptional lifetime achievement in IS in 2012. He has published approaching 100 articles in many leading international journals on information systems and management (e.g., MISQ, JAIS, JMIS, ISJ, EJIS, JIT, BJM and LRP), and has authored or co-authored 13 books, including - in the Critical Perspectives on Business and Management series - "The Routledge Companion to Management Information Systems" (Routledge, 2017) and "The Routledge Handbook on Management Information Systems" (Routledge, 2015), together with, "The Oxford Handbook of Management Information Systems" (Oxford University Press, 2011); "Strategic Information Management" 4th edition (Routledge, 2009); "Exploring Information Systems Research Approaches: Readings and Reflections" (Routledge, 2007); "Rethinking Management Information Systems" (Oxford University Press, 1999), and "IT and Organizational Transformation" (Wiley, 1998). His research is transdisciplinary in nature, focusing primarily on organizational innovation/transformation and the associated management of change issues; the processes and practices of information systems strategizing; organizational knowing, and the intra- and extra-organizational impacts of information & communication technologies. He has been keynote speaker at more than 60 major international conferences and symposia including the European Conference on IS; the Australasian Conference on IS; the Scandinavian Conference on IS; the UKAIS Conference, and the Mediterranean Conference on IS. He has supervised 27 PhD students to completion (including 5 at Bentley) and his work has been cited over 11,000 times according to Google Scholar.

He brings together real estate and financial skills, successfully bridging understanding and communication between the two. 

He has led transactions involving sophisticated financial structures including private finance initiative (PFI) and public private partnership (PPP) deals. He strives to solve problems and bring fresh ideas to any situation. 

Frequently working with the public sector, Paul identifies how real assets can be utilised more effectively to provide greater efficiency and increase value for money. Assignments have included critical review and analysis of real estate holdings to reduce running costs and identify assets surplus to requirements for disposal. 

Paul has extensive experience of real estate and corporate workout providing bank advisory services. He has been a Licenced Insolvency Practitioner and has acted on a significant number of cases as a Fixed Charge Receiver / LPA Receiver to maximise recovery on behalf of institutions in situations of stress and distress.

As a result, Laura has significant audit experience across a variety of industry sectors and has a wide portfolio of clients.  She is responsible for the audits of several large groups of companies and also acts as reporting accountant for many different companies. 

Laura is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University and admitted as a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland in 2016. She holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Accounting and is a Member of the Institute of Directors, a Council Member for Confederation of Business Industry, non-executive/Trustee for Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall Limited and non-executive/Trustee for Co Ownership Housing.

Before joining FinTrU, Karl worked at Deloitte where he supported organisations to develop and implement technology strategy. He also held leadership roles within a number of financial technology companies, helping them to innovate, scale, and enhance their delivery functions and associated commercial opportunities.

At FinTrU, Karl is the Chief Commercial Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. Karl has overall responsibility for FinTrU's clients, product offerings, revenue, and business development.

Karl has a degree in Engineering from Trinity College Dublin and an MSC in Engineering Computation from Queen's University Belfast.

In 1998, Stephen became Managing Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, following the merger of Coopers and Lybrand with Price Waterhouse, until his retirement in 2007. He is currently the Principal of Stephen Kingon Associates - Chartered Accountants, and holds several non-executive positions including Allied Irish Bank (UK) plc.

He is a former Chairman of Invest Northern Ireland; the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants; the NI Chamber of Commerce; Business in the Community NI; and the Institute of Management Consultants. Currently, he is Chairman of the NI Centre for Competitiveness; Northern Ireland Electricity and the Balcas Group of Companies. Stephen also serves on the Board of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. Stephen is a member of Senate and Pro-Chancellor of Queen’s University.

In the academic year 1982/83 he became the inaugural President of the Queen's University Accountancy Society.  On 26 September 2018, Feargal was awarded Managing Partner of the year at the British Accountancy Awards 2018 in London, and was commended “for going above and beyond by demonstrating the highest levels of innovation, business strategy and quality of service”. In 2019, Feargal was selected as The Irish Accountant of the Year.

In June 2012, Feargal received the prestigious All-Ireland Award from the Institute of Management Consultants NI Region and the Institute of Management Consultants and Advisors (Ireland) in recognition “of his significant contribution to business and public life in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the past 20 years.” 

Under his leadership FPM, which he founded in 1991, has grown significantly in size and influence.  It now operates out of 5 locations with over 120 employees across the Island of Ireland and has won many national and regional awards. Feargal was elected President of Chartered Accountants Ireland at its 130th Annual General Meeting in May 2018, and has been awarded Honorary Doctorate degrees by both Queens University Belfast (2021) and Ulster University (2018).

He joined Tayto (NI) Limited in 2002 and subsequently led the family owned company, as CEO, through a number of strategic acquisitions in Great Britain including that of Golden Wonder, Red Mill, Real Crisps and Mr Porky’s pork scratchings. The company enjoyed a period of rapid growth from £15m to £180m turnover and became the largest indigenous crisp and snack manufacturer in the UK.   During this time, he also developed a sister company to Tayto, called  Montagu, which became the second largest vending group in the UK following the acquisition of four businesses across the country, bringing a further £40m of turnover to the wider group.

He is an economics graduate of Queen’s University, Belfast, holds an MBA and is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA).  

Paul acquired Genesis Bakery in Magherafelt, out of administration in 2018 and left Tayto the following year.  Since then he has made significant investments in over a dozen other companies in the UK and America, including Pasta King, which is one of the leading providers of school meals in the UK. He also has connections with the QUB Institute for Global Food Security (“IGFS”) and is a shareholder in a spin-out company from the IGFS, BIA Analytical. 

He is married to Nicola and they have a daughter, Sophia.  Paul acts as Executive Chairman, investor and consultant across his portfolio of interests.

In addition to providing regular analysis internally at the bank, Richard is a frequent economic commentator in the media and a regular columnist in newspapers including the Belfast Telegraph and Irish News. As one of the leading voice on issues related to the Northern Ireland economy, from the property downturn and credit crunch in 2007 to the present day, Richard can also often be heard speaking at high profile events. He blogs at the website UlsterEconomix.com and tweets from @Ramseconomics 

Richard is currently a member of the Department of Finance’s Statistical Advisory Committee and was formerly a member of the Department of Finance’s Ministerial Advisory Committee for Public Sector Reform.  

Before joining Ulster Bank, Richard spent 10 years in the public sector – including spells as Principal Economist at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and with Invest NI. He also held a number of economist posts within the Department of Finance & Personnel. 

Richard is a graduate of Loughborough University with a BSc in Economics & Human Geography and an MSc in European Economics and Finance.

Since June 2020, he has served as non-executive Chairman of Centamin plc, a UK listed gold mining company.  He is also Senior Independent Director on the board of Anglo Pacific Group plc, a UK listed mining royalty company, where he serves as Chair of the Sustainability Committee and is a director of the Tantallon Capital India Fund, a dedicated Indian equity investment fund.

Previously, between 2019 and 2021, he served as Lead Independent Director of GT Gold Corp, a Canadian listed mining exploration company, until its takeover by Newmont Corp.  Between 2013 and 2020, he was a non-executive director on the board of Anglo American plc, a FTSE100 diversified mining company and, between 2015 and 2018, he was chairman of Dalradian Resources Inc., which is developing the Curraghinalt gold deposit in Northern Ireland, until its takeover in September 2018 by Orion Resource Partners.

Between 1997 and 2013, Mr Rutherford was Senior Vice President of Capital Group, a long-established US-based investment institution, where he had responsibility for investments globally in the mining and metals industry. Prior to joining Capital Group, he spent over ten years as an investment analyst for HSBC James Capel in New York, covering the South American mining and metals industry, and for Credit Lyonnais Securities (formerly Laing & Cruickshank) in both New York and London.

Mr Rutherford obtained a BSC (Econ) in Economics & Computer Science from Queens University Belfast in 1980 and an MA (Econ) in Development Economics from the University of Sussex in 1981.  He is also an alumnus of the London Business School.

She joined Colgate Palmolive in 1994, where she gained extensive international experience across Europe, the USA and South Pacific in commercial, supply chain and finance leadership roles.

In 2008 Elaine joined PZ Cussons in Manchester as Managing Director of their UK operation and subsequently moved to their Executive Board as Area Director for PZ Cussons Africa, leading and transforming operations in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

Elaine was appointed CEO of food and drink conglomerate SHS Group in 2014, where she led the strategic direction of the Group, strengthening its position in the Grocery sector whilst navigating the significant impact of Brexit, pandemic and cyber business risk.

Elaine has been member of Women in Business Northern Ireland and was a board member of Business in the Community NI . She was appointed as the first female Chair of CBI Northern Ireland in 2020, and in 2021 was awarded an honorary MBE as part of Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to economic development in Northern Ireland.

Elaine is currently a Non Executive Director on the Board of Eakin Healthcare Group and a member of Digital Manufacturing Ireland’s Workforce of the Future Centre of Excellence.

During his stint at Loughborough University (2006-2022), Ravi contributed in multiple leadership roles including Associate Dean (Research) and Director of Internationalisation. Ravi serves on the editorial board of five scholarly journals and he has been consistently ranked amongst the top 20 global scholars based on research publications in the Association for Information Systems’ basket of world-leading scholarly journals. 

His external research engagements (2004 - present) span strategic coordination of technology sourcing, management of digital social innovations, and social entrepreneurship. Ravi’s teaching has been well-received by all student groups, and he has designed and delivered undergraduate, postgraduate, MBA, doctoral, and executive education courses on the strategic management of multinational enterprises, strategies for emerging markets, technology management, management information systems, global sourcing, and fintech innovations.

Sonia has over 25 years’ experience of working in Higher Education at Queen’s University Belfast, and was appointed to School Manager of Queen’s Business School in 2005.

A member of the School’s Senior Management Team, responsible for the development of plans and policies to enable the School to deliver its key strategic objectives, with specific responsibilities for finances and resources. Sonia leads the Professional Services Team in the School.

She is a member of the Association of University Administrators and was appointed to the CABS Professional Managers Committee in April 2020.