Board of trustees
Futurelab Chairman:
Lord Puttnam of Queensgate
After ten years in the advertising industry, David Puttnam spent 30 years as an independent film producer (his many award-winning films include The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero and Chariots of Fire). He was Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia Pictures from 1986 to 1988 - the only non-American ever to run a Hollywood Studio. David retired from film production in 1998 and now focuses on his work in education. He was the founder (in 1998) and is Chair of Trustees of the National Teaching Awards. In addition to having served as the first Chair of the General Teaching Council (2000-2002), he has also served on a variety of other public bodies. He was founding Chair of NESTA, and for ten years chaired the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television. He was also Vice President and Chair of Trustees at BAFTA from 1994 to 2004 and was awarded a BAFTA Fellowship in 2006. In February 2006 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of Channel Four. In July 2002, David was appointed President of UNICEF UK, and has played a key role in promoting UNICEF's advocacy, awareness and fundraising objectives, in 2003 launching their End Child Exploitation campaign. In the UK he has been instrumental in helping to forge new fundraising partnerships within the film, music and property industries, and has spoken at numerous events. David was awarded a CBE in 1982, received a Knighthood in 1995, was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997, and has recently been named a Commander in France's Order of Arts and Letters.
Other trustees:
Peter Hyman
Peter Hyman is Associate Deputy Head at Greenford High School in Ealing - a mixed comprehensive for 11-18 year-olds. He teaches history and politics. Before going into teaching he worked for nine years as political strategist and chief speechwriter to Tony Blair, and ran the Strategic Communications Unit at 10 Downing Street between 2001-2003. He spent much of his time dealing with strategies to reform public services. Peter is author of ‘1 out of 10, From Downing Street Vision to Classroom Reality’, and is a contributor to the Guardian, Observer and Newsnight. He is a governor of Rokesly Primary School.
Professor Angela McFarlane
Originally a research biologist and secondary science teacher, Angela holds a chair in education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol and is currently Head of Department. She was a founder of the TEEM project on evaluation of digital content in the classroom and ran a software Research & Development unit at Homerton College, Cambridge for over 10 years. Angela has designed and directed national UK research and evaluation projects on
Gareth Mills
Gareth Mills is leader of the Curriculum Development & Implementation team at QCA. QCA is committed to developing a modern, world-class curriculum that inspires and challenges all learners and prepares them for the future. The Curriculum Development & Implementation team are engaging with the education community in the development of thinking around a future curriculum. They are also promoting innovation, thinking and practice that enhances curriculum in schools and settings. Gareth began his career as an art teacher, and after 13 years teaching he became an advisor for
Jeremy Silver
Jeremy Silver began his career at the National Sound Archive, where he was closely involved in the establishment of the MCPS National Discography. In 1989 he joined the British Phonographic Industry as Director of Communications, and in 1992 became Director of Media Affairs for Virgin Records, where he worked with artists such as Genesis, Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry and the Future Sound of London. In 1994 he created Virgin Records' first website, the-raft.com. The following year he was appointed Vice President, Interactive Media for EMI International with responsibility for new media activities in EMI Music worldwide. In 1999 Jeremy moved to Los Angeles, where he was responsible for negotiating many of the New Media deals that EMI became known for. During this time he was also a founding director of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) foundation and was subpoenaed as a witness in the infamous
Sue Thexton
Sue Thexton is Managing Director of ITN Archive - one of the biggest archive footage collections in the world representing British Pathe, Channel 4, Granada, Reuters and Fox Movietone. Prior to that she was Vice President for Macromedia Europe, the
Lynne Turner
Lynne Turner is Group Director of Financial Control at Centrica plc. She joined Centrica in 2002 as Goldfish Bank Finance Director and has also held the position of Finance Director, British Gas. Prior to joining Centrica she spent 14 years in a variety of finance and operational roles at Alliance & Leicester plc. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in 1988.
John Willis
John Willis began his career at Yorkshire Television where his award-winning documentary programmes included Johnny Go Home. Later as Controller of Documentaries and Current Affairs he started the acclaimed documentary series First Tuesday. In 1988 he joined Channel 4 Television first as Controller of Factual Programmes (introducing new documentary strands like Cutting Edge) and then as Director of Programmes (overseeing programmes and films in several genres including Father Ted, The Politician's Wife, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Trainspotting). After Channel 4, he became Chief Executive of United Productions as it expanded in both factual programmes and drama including Hornblower, Oliver Twist and several Paul Watson documentaries. When Granada Media bought United, John moved to become Managing Director of both United Productions and London Weekend Television, and subsequently MD of Granada's International Production. In 2001 he won the Royal Television Society Gold Medal for Creative Contribution to Television. In June 2002 he joined WGBH, America's biggest public television station, as Vice President in charge of National Programmes. In June 2003 he became the BBC's Director of Factual and Learning with responsibility for factual production across all channels, where his department was responsible for award-winning productions like The Secret Policeman and Planet Earth, as well as Education output for the majority of British schools. John is now CEO of Mentorn.