Date: 31 Jan 2012
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Director Professor Nick Owens has appointed two new Non-Executive members with immediate effect.
Anne Miller is an innovator, entrepreneur and Director of the Creativity Partnership. She is a mechanical engineer by background. She started her career with an MA in Engineering from Cambridge University, then spent 20 years leading teams developing innovative products for the world’s leading companies. She is one of the world’s most prolific female inventors, with 39 patents for a diverse range of products. Her inventions range from power tools and medical products to the manufacturing system for the Femidom (the female condom).
In 1988 she was a co-founder of The Technology Partnership (now one of Europe’s leading technology innovation organizations) and in 2000 founded The Creativity Partnership, providing consulting and training for some of the world’s most successful organizations. She is also a non-executive director of Z-Tech Ltd, an innovative engineering services provider, and runs the networking community, Green Enterprise.
Dr Rita Gardner is Director of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), the learned society and professional body for geography and geographers in the UK. Appointed in 1996, from an academic background, she has led the Society through a period of substantial development in the past fifteen years raising £20 million in the process to fund new activities. The Society has expanded its remit, now supporting research, expeditions and fieldwork, education, policy and wider public engagement with geography. It is widely regarded as one of the leading and most innovative of the learned societies in the UK.
She has served on a number of national and international committees, including Senior Advisor to the British Council; Chair of the Steering Committee for the International Benchmarking Review of UK Human Geography; Chair of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group; Secretary General of the European Association of Geographical Societies. She was appointed non-political advisor for Geography to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, 2006–2010, and continues to have a close dialogue with the Department for Education on geography.
The new Board members bring a rich and diverse range of views and experiences to help BAS to deliver its Mission and achieve its Vision to be ‘recognised as a world-leading centre for polar research and expertise, addressing issues of global importance by 2020.’
