Our advisory board
Meet the people who form our School's advisory board.
About the members
Our advisory board is a group of external professionals who strengthen our connections with business and industry. Some of our board members are Sussex alumni and many have extensive experience of international business through their work across the world.
What the board does
The board’s role is to advise the University of Sussex Business School on our strategy, teaching, research and internationalism, and to contribute to the skills and knowledge of our staff. They also review the School’s activities to make sure we’re upholding our standards in ethics, responsibility and sustainability.
Our staff and students benefit from the advisory board members’ experience, as they help to ensure that our practices and our courses are relevant, up-to-date and reflective of industry needs.
Advisory board members also create opportunities to connect with organisations, such as research collaborations or work experience opportunities for students.
Members
Sir Keith Skeoch
Sir Keith is Chairman of QBE European Operations, Chair of the Edinburgh International Festival, Didasko and Sussex University Business School Advisory Board. He is also a macro market advisor to a global family office and sits on the Council of The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor.
Previously, Sir Keith was Chair of The Investment Association and the Ring Fence and Proprietary Trading Review, whose final report was laid in Parliament by HM Treasury in February 2022. He also served on the ABI Board and chaired the ABI Investment Committee.
Sir Keith joined Standard Life Investments (SLI) in 1999 and became CEO in 2004, later serving as CEO of Standard Life plc and Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA). He led the growth of SLI and, in 2018, the separation of the life business to Phoenix and subsequent formation of SLA as a global investment house. He stepped down as CEO of SLA in 2020.
Tosin Akinluyi
Tosin Akinluyi is a Managing Director and a member of Research Management. She is Associate Director of Research for Macro Research as well as EMEA Equity Research Strategy, Financials & Emerging Markets.
Tosin is Co-Chair of the Morgan Stanley EMEA Culture & Inclusion Council, Executive Sponsor for the Race at Work Charter and Founder and Sponsor of the Schools Outreach/Step-In Step-Up Program. Tosin is also a member of the Advisory Boards of both The Inclusion Initiative at LSE and the Business School of Sussex University. Tosin has a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, an MA in Development Economics from Sussex University and an MBA in Finance and Economics from Columbia Business School in New York.
Allan Ang
Allan has a career spanning multiple geographies (APAC, Europe, Middle East), and industries having worked for companies such as Visa, Estee Lauder Companies, and Vodafone.
He is adept at building the culture, capabilities and infrastructure that enable diverse and high-performing teams and organisations. Allan lives and works in Singapore currently, and has a BA Economics from the University of Sussex.
John Claisse
John Claisse joined Albourne in 1996 and has served as Albourne Group CEO since 2015. An equity partner and member of Albourne’s Executive Committee, he also chairs the firm’s Corporate Planning Council. John helped develop Albourne’s proprietary risk analytics and continues to work as a Portfolio Analyst. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI), and the Advisory Board of The Robert Toigo Foundation.
John holds a first class Mathematics Degree and a PhD from University of Sussex.
Yousra Ahmed Abdelmoneim
Yousra is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant and CIA qualified Internal auditor by background. She is Director in Risk for Capital and Infrastructure Projects at PwC UK, with a focus on the Energy and Utilities Projects. Previously, Yousra worked in external audit within Banking and Capital Markets and internal audit within local government, education and media sector.
She graduated from the University of Sussex in 2016 after completing her BSc in Economics with a placement year. She leads on social mobility initiatives at PwC and Co-founded the PwC Refugees working group which aims to support refugees into professional employment.
Afzal Abdul Rahim
Afzal is a technology entrepreneur and Executive Vice Chairman of TIME dotCom Berhad. He joined TIME in 2008 after establishing The AIMS Asia Group and Global Transit International in 2006.
Afzal founded the non-profit Malaysian Internet Exchange (MyIX) in 2006 and serves as a Board Member of Endeavor Malaysia, which is devoted to nurturing high-impact entrepreneurs.
He began his career in the automotive sector as a Chassis Development Engineer before managing clients on the engineering consultancy side of Group Lotus PLC.
He holds a Degree in Mechanical Engineering with Electronics from the University of Sussex and is also a Licensed Air Transport Pilot.
Barry Cleasby
Dr Barry Cleasby is Head of Risk and Assurance at Southern Water.
His current role is one of a number he has had with the company since 2015. Southern Water, a regional water utility, is a key local employers across Kent, Sussex and Hampshire.
Previously Barry worked as a civil servant, most recently at the Department of Education. Barry is an alumni of the Business School, with a DPhil in Science and Technology Policy from his time at SPRU.
Robert Hoad
Robert is currently the Director of Procurement and Property Services at Grainger PLC.
Prior to this role Robert’s career has spanned multiple industries in both the Private and Public sectors, developing Commercial and Procurement functions and scaling growth businesses.
Robert holds an MBA from the University of Sussex.
Godfrey Ryan
Godfrey Ryan is Chief Executive Officer at Kura.
Before joining Kura in 2020, he had a career in technology sales, building and leading high-performing teams globally in the legal services, aerospace and telecoms industries. Godfrey was part of the executive management team of several start-up and mid-size companies that exited through trade sale, private equity and mergers.
Godfrey holds an MBA from The University of Sussex.
Rupinder Sehmi
Rupinder is Managing Director and Head of UK and European Real Estate Financing and Investments at LT Land.
Professor Luc Soete
Luc Soete is Professor Emeritus of International Economics at the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and former Rector Magnificus of Maastricht University.
He is a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Before joining Maastricht University in 1986, he worked at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Antwerp and the Department of Economics at Stanford University. He obtained his PhD at the University of Sussex.
Bing Wei
Bing Wei is a seasoned executive specialising in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Public Private Partnership, with over 25 years of cross-border marketing and branding experience in Silicon Valley technology. She has held senior roles at the Bay Area Council and Cisco Systems, as well as founding PR/GR ventures and serving as CEO of an educational startup.
Bing was selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar and personally mentored by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, focusing on social innovation and impact through non-partisan collaboration.
She is a sought-after public speaker on CSR, US-Asia relations and cross-border marketing in US and Asian media.
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