International Board of Trustees

Our Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall control and strategic direction of the Association of MBAs (AMBA). They meet regularly during the year to consider, determine and review AMBA’s strategies and policies, and to receive reports from the CEO and/or COO. They work for AMBA in a voluntary capacity.

Members of the Board of Trustees are elected by AMBA’s graduate and individual members. They serve for three years and are eligible for appointment for one further consecutive term of up to three years. In addition, the trustees may co-opt up to six individuals to be members of the Board of Trustees. The co-opted members serve for one year and can be co-opted again for up to six years. These members can be representatives of business schools (up to 2 co-options) and employers (up to 2 co-options) with up to a further two co-options to be used at the discretion of the Board.

Association of MBAs Board of Trustees are listed below:

Chris Russell
Chairman

Chris joined the Board of Trustees of AMBA in December 2009 and was re-elected in 2012.  He has been Chair since November 2010. 

A Modern Languages graduate with an MA from Pembroke College Cambridge, Chris started his career in radio, working in the Mediterranean, Germany and London, and set up the first English-language station in Saudi Arabia in 1991.

While working in Cyprus, then London, Chris studied for his MBA at the Open University Business School from 1990 to 1994.  He started up a broadcast communications business which was sold in 1998 to Kingston Communications, where he became director of the Satellite Services division.

On leaving Kingston in 2003, Chris set up a company offering  project management via European funding bodies backing technical innovations in satellite communications.  He chaired the industry group, World Teleport Association from 2005 to 2009. 

He then made a third career move into training and development in business communications.  He now trains senior executives in the financial, audit, automotive and retail sectors in London and other European countries to improve their communications skills.    

Len Jones

Treasurer

 

Len is a qualified Chartered Accountant and currently works as a Group Finance Director in the SME sector (transport). He qualified with Deloitte Haskins and Sells, before moving to a smaller accountancy practice where he was a Partner for eight years. After obtaining his FCA he next transferred his skills into commerce to become financial director of a listed PLC and guided the company through the Alternative Investment Market up to a main Stock Exchange listing, and helped it through two rights issues and significant capital expenditure . His first degree is in Accounting and Financial Administration and he holds Post Graduate Diplomas in Personnel Management (UWE) and Charity Accounting.(Cass)

 

His MBA was obtained from Cranfield University. In addition to his full time role he also sits on the ICAEW Finance and Management Faculty Committee and on the SME Audit Sub-Committee of the Auditing Practice Board (part of the Financial Reporting Council). Len recently completed his MSc in Charity Accounting and Financial Management at Cass.

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Nick Binedell

Nick Binedell is the Director of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). In 1998 he was invited to establish a new business school focused on meeting the individual and corporate needs of business in South Africa. The Gordon Institute of Business Science was opened in January 2000.

GIBS has rapidly established itself as a leading business school in South Africa with a strong focus on partnering with leading South African corporates and providing a high level of local and international business education.

Nick’s academic qualifications include a PhD from the University of Washington in Seattle, an MBA from the University of Cape Town. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

His area of expertise is in the field of strategy and general management. He acts as a consultant to leading South African companies and is also a frequent public speaker. His area of interest is in the field of strategy in emerging markets.

Nick is a past President of the South African Business School Association (two terms) and was the first Chairman of the African Association of Business Schools (2005 and 2006).
 

 

 

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Professor Rob Dixon

 

Professor Dixon has been a member of staff in the Business School since 1992.  He was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Management and subsequently promoted in 1995 to a Readership in Accountancy and Finance.   He has held various administrative roles in the School including Chair of the Board of Studies, Director of the MBA Programme, and in April 2008 was appointed Dean of the School.   

In 1998 he was promoted to a Chair of Management Accounting.  His research interests are broad and include investigations of the contribution of venture capitalists and the impact of regulation on business.  He is a highly regarded speaker and has held visiting professorships in Malaysia, Hong Kong, France and Finland. Rob is the author of a number of books and articles in the broad field of Management, and has published extensively in learned journals on the broad subject of financial management and performance appraisal. 

He has carried out accreditation reviews for EQUIS AACSB and AMBA and is a member of the Associations International Accreditation Advisory Board.

 

Steve Gorton

In 1995 Steve completed his Open University Business School MBA where he now teaches strategy as an Associate Lecturer. He then chose the entrepreneurial route as his next career stage after a twenty year corporate life in the pharmaceutical industry in a range of sales and marketing roles with MSD and GlaxoSmithKline. Primarily an executive business coach, Steve helps people, teams and organisations achieve more than they previously thought possible. His consultancy, Enabling Development, specialises in leader and team development, successful organisational and culture change and innovative business strategy development all to enhance corporate performance.

Within the Association of MBAs, Steve is the Yorkshire Regional Chair and the IMB’s representative on the International Accreditation Advisory Board, leads on IT governance and is a member of the Finance and Risk Committee. 

Amongst his interests are live theatre, walking, good food and wine and he is a card carrying CAMRA member! 
 

 Carol Groombridge

 Carol has senior managerial experience in both the private and public sectors and since 2007 has been self-employed as a business consultant working within the UK dental sector.

Carol graduated with her MBA from the Open University in 2002 and since that time has been actively involved with the Association of MBAs at local level and has been chair of the North East Region for a number of years. Since 2008 she has been a member of the International Management Board and in 2011 was elected joint vice chair.  
  

Ian Parkes

Ian is currently the Talent and People Development Director for Fujitsu Global Business Group. A very experienced senior human resource professional, he has worked in a number of large, international organisations including Unisys, Coca Cola HBC and Wyeth Global Pharmaceuticals, which is now part of Pfizer. 

Ian holds a Masters in Economic History, a Post Graduate Diploma in HR Management and has in depth knowledge in the design and application of talent management, organisation and leadership development processes.