Dr Clare Loughlin-Chow is the CEO of SRHE. Clare was educated at the University of Toronto and holds a master’s degree and a DPhil from Oxford University. She comes to us from Gresham College (www.gresham.ac.uk) where she acted as Academic Registrar and Company Secretary, managing its extensive academic programme of public lectures.  Before that Clare was at Richmond, the American International University in London, where she progressed to Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs, with a major role in the university’s successful bid for UK Taught Degree Awarding Powers.  She has held posts in Oxford as the director of Worcester College’s programme for visiting students, and as research editor for literature on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Rob Gresham is the SRHE Manager: Operations and Finance. Rob is directly responsible for the management and performance of the Society in all its administrative tasks, for compliance with regulatory bodies, overseeing the financial management and reporting requirements of the Society, the management of the SRHE databases and systems, and for reviewing and making recommendations on improving practices and new developments.

Rob joined the Society in 2011, from his previous role at the University of Winchester as Deputy Director of the Aimhigher Hampshire & Isle of Wight partnership, part of a national, university-led Widening Participation initiative.

Prior to this, Rob worked as a Project Manager for various university-based outreach activities, as a secondary school teacher of Modern Foreign Languages, and in a more commercial role as a Pricing Analyst for Eurostar UK Ltd. Rob has a BA (Hons) in English & French Studies from the University of Portsmouth, and a PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages, also from the University of Portsmouth.

Rihana holds a PhD in English Literature from Newcastle University. She worked at the British Library as a Chevening Fellow within the Endangered Archives Programme. Prior to that, Rihana held academic posts in Damascus University, the Syrian Virtual University and the International University for Science and Technology.

As SRHE Manager: Conferences and Events, Rihana’s role involves developing and maintaining an evolving suite of events, webinars, and training workshops across SRHE’s special interest networks, and leading on professional development programmes within the Society. It also involves conceptualising and running the Society’s international annual conference, and working with the SRHE executive team and senior colleagues in the Society to establish initiatives and strategies aimed at connecting the Society to a global network of higher education research and researchers.

Franco Carta is the Finance Officer of SRHE.  He is responsible for maintaining and developing the accounts in order to ensure complete and accurate records. He prepares and checks VAT reports and documentation for the annual audit visit and deals with any resulting enquires.

He supports the Manager: Operations and Finance in providing financial information for trustees, event budgeting and planning.

In addition to his primary role, he supports the team by providing organisational and practical assistance during events and meetings hosted on SRHE premises and externally (such as the Society’s Annual Research Conference).

Franco, who is from Italy originally, was educated at a business high school in Sassari. On coming to London, he studied English at advanced level and retrained in business studies.  Before joining SRHE he worked in a voluntary capacity with Action Aid and Common Purpose, a non-profit organization that develops leadership across sectors.