Council

Chair of Council
Meri Huws (until 30 April 2026)

• Until April 2019, Meri was the Welsh Language Commissioner, a role which she held from April 2012. She was Chairman of the Welsh Language Board from 2004 until the Board was abolished in March 2012.
• An AU graduate in Law and Politics, she previously was a Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wales Trinity St David and Bangor University.

Member of the following committee/s:
Governance and Culture 
Redundancy
Remuneration 
Nominations

Deputy Chair of Council

Rhuanedd Richards (until 31 July 2028)

• Originally from the Cynon Valley, Rhuanedd Richards studied at Aberystwyth University and was awarded a BBC scholarship to study in Cardiff University’s School of Journalism. After finished her degree at Cardiff, she started her career with BBC Wales as a journalist before presenting some of its flagship news and political programmes.
• She left the BBC in 2007 and worked in and around the National Assembly for Wales as a special advisor to the Welsh Government, chief executive of Plaid Cymru and latterly as a policy advisor for the National Assembly’s Presiding Officer.
• Ms Richards began her current role as National Director of BBC Wales in 2021 and was previously Editor of BBC Radio Cymru and Cymru Fyw.

Member of the following committee/s:
Resources and Performance
Redundancy
Remuneration (Chair)

Vice-Chancellor
Professor Jon Timmis

Member of the following committees:
Governance and Culture
Resources and Performance
Investments
Nominations

Pro Vice-Chancellor

Professor Angela Hatton

Paul Bevan (until 31 July 2028)

Member of the following committee/s:
Investments (Chair)
Resources and Performance

Kate Eden (until 31 July 2028)

• Kate Eden is a non-executive director who has over fifteen years of experience at senior management level both in the UK and internationally.
• Ms Eden was born and brought up in North Wales. She studied social and political sciences at King’s College, Cambridge.
• Her expertise in public affairs, policy and strategic communications was gained largely in the pharmaceutical sector. Ms Eden has also worked on energy and science policy.

Member of the following committee/s:
Resources and Performance (Chair)
Investments
Nominations

Professor Simon Green (until 31 July 2025)

• Simon is Professor of Politics and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at the University of Salford.
• Previously, he served as Executive Dean of Languages and Social Sciences (2013-18) and then Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) (2018-23) at Aston University, Birmingham.
• His academic interests are in German and European Politics.  He was educated at the Universities of Manchester, Heidelberg and Birmingham.

Member of the following committee/s:
Resources and Performance
Redundancy

Yusuf Ibrahim (until 31 July 2028)

Member of the following committee/s:
Governance and Culture
Nominations

Daniel Richards (until 31 July 2028)

Member of the following committee/s:
Audit, Risk and Assurance
Investments

Arwel Thomas (until 31 July 2026)

• A qualified accountant and retired in 2013.  Arwel’s early career was spent working for British Coal.  He left shortly before it was privatized in 1994.  He then joined the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales as an auditor and subsequently as a Senior Audit Manager.
• In 2008, Arwel joined the Welsh government as Head of Governance and Risk Assurance. Following his retirement Arwel had taken on a number of non-executive roles: Non-Executive Director at Estyn and Independent member of the Audit, Risk and Assurance Committees for the Arts Council for Wales and the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.

Member of the following committee/s:
Audit, Risk and Assurance
Resources and Performance

Mark Tweed (until 31 December 2026)

• Mark is currently Group Chief Financial Officer, Director and Head of Legal at Propel Finance. Previously, he was Deputy CFO & Interim Head of Legal for Opel Vauxhall Finance (OVF).
• A graduate in Industrial Chemistry from Cardiff University, Mark is also an independent Board Member of the Welsh Sports Association.
• Prior to becoming a member of the University’s Council, he served as an independent member on the Resources and Performance, and Investments committees.

Member of the following committee/s:
Audit, Risk and Assurance (Chair)

Jane Usherwood (until 31 March 2028)

• Jane’s working career spanned Human Resources in both the private and public sectors, culminating as HR Director of one of England’s largest research universities.
• She spent over 10 years as Secretary General of an international network of research universities, facilitating collaboration and cooperation between members and developing relationships with external agencies.
• Time spent studying and working outside the UK convinced her of the transformative potential of international experiences and the power of internationalization both at home and abroad.

Member of the following committee/s:
Governance and Culture
Redundancy

Claire Vaughan (until 31 July 2026)

• Claire is currently the Director of People & Culture at well known, national first aid charity St John Ambulance, which she joined in April 2022 following seven years as Executive Director of Workforce & OD at the Welsh Ambulance Service.

• She has over 20 years’ experience leading on and delivering sustainable culture and service change in the voluntary, health, education and other sectors and in national roles, and has led many of her teams to award-winning success.  

Member of the following committee/s:
Governance and Culture (Chair)
Remuneration

Bayanda Vundamina, Union President (until 30 June 2025)

• Bayanda is the Students’ Union President, acting as a voice for students and working on policies that matter to the student body and community.

• Prior to this, Bayanda studied their Undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Aberystwyth University.  

Member of the following committee/s:
Remuneration
Resources and Performance
Nominations

Elain Gwynedd, UMCA President (until 30 June 2025)

• Elain is the voice for Welsh culture & Welsh language students in Aberystwyth. Her role focuses on promoting Welsh culture giving Aber students the opportunity to learn, speak and live the language.

• Prior to this, Elain studied their Undergraduate degree in Welsh at Aberystwyth University. 

Member of the following committee/s:
Governance and Culture

Professor Sarah Davies (until 31 July 2028)

Member of the following committee/s:

Dr Aloysius Igboewku (until 31 July 2028)

Member of the following committee/s

Kylie Evans (until 31 July 2028)

• Born and bred in Aberystwyth, Kylie attended Penglais Comprehensive School. Joining the University in 1994, she has worked in the areas of Admissions, Recruitment and Marketing.  Her current role is Head of Admissions Operations in Global Marketing and Student Recruitment.
• Kylie is studying for a PgCert in Higher Education Administration, Management and Leadership, run by the Association of University Administrators and Nottingham Trent University, and is a committee member of the AU Admin Forum.

Member of the following committee/s:

Mathew Norman (until 30 June 2025)

Member of the following committee/s:

Audit, Risk and Assurance

Charu Maini (until 30 June 2025)

Member of the following committee/s:

Remuneration

Nicola Wood, MBE (until 30 June 2025)

Member of the following committee/s:

Governance and Culture