Meet the Commission Members
Professor Sir Chris Husbands

Sir Chris Husbands is a public servant, academic and university leader with extensive leadership experience who was knighted for services to education in 2018.
For eight years, he led Sheffield Hallam University, one of the UK’s largest, most diverse universities, winning national awards for teaching, enterprise, social mobility and community engagement.
Before that he led the Institute of Education, University of London, a specialist research institution rated first in the world in three successive years.
Chris has more than twenty years of board-level and chair experience, leading national initiatives in public policy, schools and higher education to drive system improvement, working nationally and internationally.
He chaired the UK Teaching Excellence Framework, the Higher Education Statistics Agency and serves on a range of advisory and executive boards.
His writing, conference addresses and journalism includes lecturing and consultancy work in four continents.
He is now a Director of Higher Futures, a specialist consultancy supporting strategic change and development in higher education and a visiting professor in the King’s Policy Institute at King’s College.
Cllr Michael Graham

Prior to entering politics Cllr Michael Graham worked in education, teaching Science.
A graduate of Liverpool University, Michael joined Wakefield Council in 2017 and was appointed Cabinet Member for Skills and Employment in 2019.
He took over the Culture, Leisure and Sport portfolio in 2021 and in 2023 was appointed Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Strategic Housing, and Economic Growth.
Cllr Graham champions new inward investment and is keen to see the right provisions in place to ensure the people of Wakefield have access to the skills and training that will be essential to access the jobs of the future.
Mark Ridgway OBE

Mark is Chairman and CEO of Group Rhodes, a Wakefield headquartered advanced engineering group, and past winners of Queen’s Awards for both Innovation and International Trade.
Underlining his long-standing commitment to manufacturing, Mark is Chair of the Engineering and Machinery Alliance, an organisation established to represent the interests of the sector with government and is a Director and Past President of the UK’s Manufacturing Technologies Association. He is also a Director of The Metal forming Machinery Makers’ Association.
Government appointments have included a seat on the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative and the DBT’s Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board, for whom he has headed UK Trade Missions to India and China. He currently sits on a DBT trade advisory group (TAG).
In recent years Mark has been awarded the title of Regional Manufacturing Champion (NE) by Make UK (previously the Engineering Employers Federation) and listed in the Manufacturer’s UK Top 100. He was also appointed the UK’s Advanced Engineering Sector Champion for the London Olympic Games.
Mark has chaired local government bodies and sat on the main board of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, chairing its Employer Ownership of Skills Board.
He is currently serving as one of three Governors appointed by the Duchy of Lancaster to the board of The King’s School Pontefract Endowment Fund. The fund promotes the advancement in education and training for pupils in the local community.
Mark was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2011 for Services to Industry and is a Deputy Lieutenant to the West Yorkshire Lieutenancy. He holds an MSc in Manufacturing Leadership from Leeds University Business School, Honorary Doctorates from Sheffield Hallam University and Leeds Beckett University, and is a Visiting Professor at Huddersfield University.
John Widdowson CBE

John Widdowson CBE began his career as a lawyer but has worked in Further and Higher Education for over forty years, serving as Principal and Chief Executive of New College Durham for twenty-two years.
In addition to roles in colleges across the country, John has played a leading role in a number of national educational bodies including the Further Education National Consortium and the Mixed Economy Group of Colleges.
He has been a Board member and President of the Association of Colleges and was a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England for six years. He Chairs the Board of Trustees of the Workers Educational Association, a national charity supporting adult education.
John has been a member of the NCG (Newcastle College Group) Corporation Board since September 2020 and has served on the Appraisal and Remuneration, Estates and Higher Education Governance Committees during that time. In July 2023 he was appointed Chair of the NCG Board. NCG currently has seven member colleges spread across England.
John has published papers and articles on a range of education subjects and has spoken regularly at national and international conferences. He has a particular interest in the development of college-based Higher Education to provide alternatives to traditional approaches to university education.
Since leaving New College Durham, John has undertaken a range of consultancy roles, including work to support the delivery of T levels (new technical qualifications aimed at 16–18-year-olds), development of Higher Technical Qualifications and advising on the creation of a large London campus for a UK university and an international partner.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Governance.
Dr Ruth Adams

Ruth has worked with several Local Authorities as an Associate Consultant with PwC having previously been the Deputy Chief Executive of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
Within that role she worked with the Elected Mayor, South Yorkshire Leaders and the business community, leading the teams responsible for economic strategy, devolution and recovery planning.
Operationally Ruth was responsible for organisational change and transformation programmes, democratic services and governance arrangements. Ruth currently serves as an independent member of an Audit and Governance Committee.
Ruth’s background is in organisational development and training, as both a practitioner and policymaker. She is a Fellow of the CIPD and a trained leadership coach, in addition to her PhD where she researched the impact of training policy on women in low paid sectors of the economy, and her MBA and first degree where she researched women in male dominated professions, exploring policy and positive action in recruitment strategies.
Ruth is the Chief Executive of South East Employers, the largest Regional Employers Organisation in the UK, with nine counties and 74 local authorities.
Justine Andrew

Based in Leeds, Justine is Head of Education and Skills at KPMG and she is also Head of the University Partnership Team.
She leads KPMG’s work with some of the largest Education providers nationally as well as being at the forefront of our work in the skills space. In her University Partnership role she is thinking differently about how providers and employers can work together across a range of areas.
She has a particular interest in the economic development of ‘place’ and the role of collaboration to achieve that. At KPMG she is a member of the regional leadership team.
Justine was, until Summer 22, Senior Independent Governor at Leeds Trinity University, Chair of RemCo and a member of the Audit Committee. She is currently a Trustee of York Museums Trust. In 2024 she was a National Commissioner for the National Commission on Oracy.
Justine studied English Literature and Language at New College, Oxford and has a Masters from the University of Essex in the Study of Contemporary Japan.
Paul Swinney

As Director of Policy and Research, Paul oversees the research programme and strategy of the Centre for Studies.
He has published on a wide range of subjects relating to city economies, including the development of UK cities over time, the role that city centres play in the national economy, and the trading relationships UK cities have with the rest of the world.
Paul is a regular regional and national media commentator, including print, radio and TV, and speaks at conferences across the UK on subjects relating to the performance of city economies.
Wesley Bush

Wesley is an experienced leader with a passion for the life-changing opportunities education can provide, in particular for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Over the past 14 years he has worked at several schools and academies across West Yorkshire, having a direct and successful impact on School Improvement.
For the last 5 years Wesley has served as Chair of the Wakefield Secondary Headteacher community. In this role he has encouraged educational institutes and support agencies to work collaboratively, to provide the best possible learning opportunities for the children of Wakefield.
Wesley is currently the headteacher of Castleford Academy. He is a proud honorary Yorkshire man but returns to his hometown of Nottingham regularly to watch his favourite football team Nottingham Forest along with his dad and son.
Rowan Fisher

Rowan Fisher is Head of Student Experience and Skills Policy and has been working at Universities UK since 2020. As a membership organisation UUK acts as the collective voice for 141 universities.
He leads UUK's policy work on supporting access to higher education, enhancing the student experience and supporting universities to meet national and local skills needs.