Heads of University Management & Administration Network in Europe

Winter School Speakers

Oriol Amat

Professor of Financial Economics and Former Rector, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, ES

Oriol Amat studied at Autonomous University of Barcelona (PhD in Business Administration and Bachelor’s degree in the same speciality), at ESADE (Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and MBA) and at the Stockholm School of Economics (International Teachers Programme). He has had visiting appointments at international universities, such as Linköping University (Sweden), Massey University (New Zealand), Université de Montpellier (France) and Diego Portales University (Chile).

As a professor at UPF since 1992, he has always been interested in the four main dimensions of academic life: research, knowledge transfer, teaching and management.

His lines of research include the analysis of the success factors of organisations, transformation processes and the ethical aspects of finance. He has directed more than fifteen theses and is the author of scientific articles and more than forty books. Some of his books have been translated into several languages (French, English, Portuguese…). He also collaborates and is a member of the editorial board of several international scientific publications.

In the field of service in higher education, he has had different responsibilities at UPF. He has been rector of UPF (2021-2023), dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management (2018-2021), director of the Department of Economics and Business (2003-2005), vice-rector for Economics, Information Systems and Services (1997-2001) and, specifically in the teaching field, he was director of the Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (2006-2011).

Llorenç Bagur

Dean, UPF Barcelona School of Management, ES

Llorenç Bagur Femenías has a degree in Economics from the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), a PhD in Business Studies from the University of Barcelona (UB) and a Master’s degree in Accounting and Financial Management from the UPF-BSM.

He is currently the Dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management, Associate Professor BSM, co-director of the Master in Business Accounting and Financial Management and Lecturer of different programs at the UPF Barcelona School of Management.

He is the author of different books and articles, both professional and academic, some of them published in leading international JCR research journals.

He has participated as a speaker in different Master’s programs at European and Latin American universities.
He regularly collaborates on projects, both with public administrations and private companies, advising companies on accounting, financial and management issues.

Jon Barnhart

Director, Research, EAB, US

Jon Barnhart is a Director of Research Advisory Services at EAB, a global research, technology, and consulting firm working with education providers. He joined EAB in 2012 as a Research Associate, where he worked across the higher education membership forums conducting short-term research projects. Jon helped to launch the University Research Forum in the summer of 2015, and has led research projects for the forum on industry partnerships, international engagements, foreign interference, and research growth strategy.

Prior to joining EAB, Jon worked for several political consulting and fundraising groups around Washington DC. He currently resides in Orange County, California.

Arnold Boon

University Director, Copenhagen Business School, DK

Arnold Boon is since 2022 the University Director at Copenhagen Business School. He is a strategic leader with solid management skills and experience from higher education and research institutions. He previously was University Director and member of the Senior Management Team at Aarhus University. He is responsible for the University administration, including finance, HR, it and digital transformation, student administration, research support and compliance. He is also responsible for real estate and campus development at the university. He has more than 18 years of experience with financial management and a wide experience in leading major change projects, digital transformation, continuous process improvement and organizational changes. He has an extensive network in higher education in Denmark and in Europe.

Earlier positions include Faculty Director at the University of Copenhagen at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (2006-2015), Chief Financial Officer at the Danish Institute of Food and Veterinary Research (2004-2006), Head of Budget department at the Danish Agency for Food, Fisheries and Agri business (2002-2004), Executive Officer at the Danish Agency for Food Fisheries and Agri business (2000-2002), Executive Officer at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (1999-2000) and Researcher at the Danish Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Economics (1991-1998).

Paul Greatrix

President, HUMANE; Registrar, University of Nottingham, UK

Dr Paul Greatrix is Registrar at the University of Nottingham, a post he was appointed to in January 2007. Prior to this he was Deputy Registrar at the University of Warwick. Earlier positions at Warwick included Director of Student and Ancillary Services, Acting Registrar, Interim Director of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth and Senior Assistant Registrar with responsibility for quality issues. Before joining Warwick in 1998 he was at the University of East Anglia for six years, where he also worked on quality matters, and Staffordshire University.

As Registrar he is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for the academic administration of the University. As well as being Secretary to the statutory bodies of the University and a member of University Executive Board, the Registrar manages the provision of a broad range of professional services for prospective students, current students and staff.

He was Chair of the HUMANE General Assembly for a period before being elected to the HUMANE Board in 2021. Since October 2023, Paul is the President of HUMANE.

Paul read English Language at the University of Edinburgh, and holds a PhD from the School of Education at the University of East Anglia.

Until recently he blogged regularly for Wonkhe as Registrarism but continues to produce a podcast ‘University Registrars Talking About Stuff.’

Nigel Healey

Vice President Global and Community Engagement, University of Limerick, IE

Dr Nigel Healey is Professor of International Higher Education and Vice-President Global and Community Relations at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Prior to joining the University of Limerick in 2020, he was Vice Chancellor of Fiji National University. He has also served as Pro-Vice Chancellor (International) at Nottingham Trent University and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and has been a vising professor at universities in Belarus, China, Poland, and the United States.

Professor Healey has a strong commitment to internationalisation and to putting internationalisation at the heart of the student experience. He is the Chair of the Irish Universities’ Association (IUA) Vice Presidents’ International Committee for 2023. He is also a Member of the Board of Governors of De Montfort University (Kazakhstan) and the European Reform University Alliance Advisory Board and Chair of the QS Global Advisory Committee. He has previously served terms as a Council Member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and a Trustee of UKCISA and was Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Leicester. His research interests are in the internationalisation of higher education, and particularly the management of transnational education partnerships.

Yannick Jolly

Head of Administration, La Rochelle Université, FR

Graduate in philosophy from Bordeaux Montaigne University, and management sciences from the University of Poitiers, Yannick Jolly began his career in 1997 within the rectorate of the Bordeaux Academy as head of department. He joined Science Po Bordeaux in 2004 as head of department.
After a one-year secondment to the Ecole Supérieure de l’Education Nationale, he became Deputy General Manager of the University of Bordeaux 1 in 2007. He held this position until the creation of the University of Bordeaux, merged in January 2014, in which he is also Deputy General Manager. He was appointed general manager of the Martinique Academy in September 2018.

Yannick Jolly leaves, two years after his arrival, a post in rectorship which had seen him move from the higher education sector to that of the school.

At La Rochelle University, Yannick Jolly arrives in 2020 in the context of major projects around the campus, in particular with:

  • the specialization of research with the aim of becoming a reference on the Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability;
  • CampusInnov, which will provide spaces and devices for emergence, particularly promoting entrepreneurship,
  • and the experimentation of a Smart Campus project to build the smart, sustainable and responsible campus

Cécile O’Brien

European Project Manager, La Rochelle Université, FR

Cécile O’Brien has been working for La Rochelle Université since 2017. From 2021 to 2023, she was Deputy General Manager in charge of support services (HR, finances, property management, IT, security and hygiene, legal affairs and sustainable development).

From 2018 to 2021, she worked as Chief of Staff to the Rector and his vice-presidents, contributing to the implementation of a new model of university and to strategic calls for projects such as the European University EU-CONEXUS. From 2017 to 2018, she worked on supporting socio-economic partnerships.

Now living in Galway, Ireland, she keeps working for La Rochelle Université as a European Project Manager, in a context of increasing European fundings. She also has 10 years’ experience in the private sector, including medico-social services and management consulting, with a particular emphasis on management and project management in complex environments.

Nicola Owen

Deputy Chief Executive (Operations), Lancaster University, UK

Nicola Owen is the Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) at Lancaster University, where she has led the Professional Services since 2013. As Deputy Chief Executive (Operations), she has responsibility for the following administrative divisions working also with the Director of Finance and Executive Deans, as the Head of Administration for the effective delivery of operational services across the University.

As University Secretary she has responsibility for the operation of governance and support to Council as well as a number of other legal, governance and licensing roles.

Nicola has been the Chair of the Association of Heads of University Administration since April 2020 and has recently been re-elected for a further period of three years from April 2023.

Prior to moving to Lancaster University, Nicola has held roles at the University of East Anglia and the University of Warwick. She was a member of the AUA Trustee Board between 2013- 19 and represents the UK in HUMANE (the European Network for Heads of University Administration).

Britta Piel

Head of Unit and Deputy Director, Centre for International Cooperation, Freie Universität Berlin, DE

Britta Piel is Head of Freie Universität Berlin’s (FUB) Centre for International Cooperation, a unit within the International Office focusing on strategic internationalisation, and Deputy Director of the International Office. Her tasks include advancing the university’s internationalisation strategy, managing the university’s network of liaison offices worldwide, and initiating new cooperation formats. Managing a diverse team across four continents, she can rely on almost twenty years of experience in different higher education institutions. Her interest in team development and organisational psychology prompted her to seek out further education in this field and to work as a humour trainer for national and international audiences.

Britta holds a Master’s degree in American Studies from Saint Louis University, USA, and a Certificate in Management and Leadership from the University of Hamburg. She also finished two years of training at Clownlabor Berlin e.V. and is a certified trainer for the foundation “Humor Hilft Heilen” in Germany.

Nannette Ripmeester

Founder & CEO of Expertise Labour Mobility, NL

Nannette Ripmeester is director of Expertise in Labour Mobility (ELM). ELM specialises for over 25 years in customising solutions for international labour mobility for study and work purposes. Together with her team, Nannette works under the motto of ‘making mobility work’ for clients in the higher education, corporate and government sector. She is considered an expert on global mobility trends and how to enhance the connection between recent graduates and their future job opportunities.

Nannette holds an MA degree from the University of Amsterdam and combines her role for ELM with her work as Director Europe & North America for i-graduate – a leading benchmarking organisation responsible for running the International Student Barometer (ISB) under 4M students worldwide. More recently, she has become involved in the employability initiative CareerProfessor.works, supporting students’ intercultural and employability skills through a gamification app.

Her love for global mobility and bridging the gap between education and the world of work was ignited when she worked for 7 years at the European Commission where she was responsible for setting up the EURES database on living and working conditions and regional labour job market in the EU Member States.

Karen Stanton

Vice-Chancellor, Bishop Grosseteste University, UK

Professor Karen Stanton is the Vice-Chancellor at Bishop Grosseteste University. Previously she was Vice-Chancellor at Solent University and prior to that Vice-Chancellor at York St John University. Professor Stanton was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University and has also held positions at King’s College London and at the Universities of Nottingham, Birmingham and Sheffield Hallam.

Her previous areas of responsibility have included Director of the Centre for e-Research, a 4* rated research team based at King’s College London, responsibility for GCU’s overseas campuses in New York, Oman and Bangladesh and as a member of the United Nations Alliance-UK. She was Chair of the Cathedral’s Group and Vice Chair of GuildHE until December 2019. Prior to her academic career Professor Stanton worked as a researcher for the BBC and the Home Office.

Professor Stanton has over 20 years of academic leadership experience having dedicated her career to enhancing and advancing life and career opportunities through education, with a particular commitment to widening access and support for all. She is Chair of Southampton Connect.

Winter School Director

Nadine Burquel

Winter School Director and Director General of HUMANE

Nadine is the Director General of HUMANE. She works closely with the Chair and the governing bodies on HUMANE’s strategic developments. She manages the HUMANE Office to offer the membership an attractive portfolio of professional development and networking activities. She has been involved with HUMANE since its foundation in the mid-nineties, until December 2022 as Executive Director of the three residential schools (the Barcelona Winter School, the Berlin Summer School and the Asia School).

Nadine has extensive director level experience, having worked with multiple international non-profit organisations, university networks and international boards. She has wide knowledge of leadership, governance and management in higher education institutions, and the global trends in the higher education sector. As EFMD Director of Business School Services she was responsible for a wide portfolio of large global events and communities of practices, interacting with business schools and universities in the wider Europe, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, the Gulf, as well as North and South America. More recently in Maastricht University she was strategic adviser to the leadership of the School of Business and Economics, advising on international accreditation, the internationalisation strategy, and delivering societal impact.

She has significant experience with EU (higher) education policy and programmes since the early days of the Erasmus programme. She has a strong track record of EU projects, leading large EU-funded European university networks and providing technical assistance to the European Commission. She is high level EU policy expert, working at system level in Brussels and beyond, carrying out capacity building and evaluations of EU interventions, having worked with EU Delegations in many countries.