Our governing University Council has recently appointed two new Lay Members, who took on the duties of their new roles from Thursday 1 August 2024.
Jim Johnston and Harry Kutty replace Bill Shannon and Akshay Thakur, who stepped down from their roles on 31 July 2024. Bill had served the maximum term of 9 years on Council, and had also been a member of the Finance Committee and Chair of the Estates and Infrastructure Committee. Akshay had served a single 3 year term on Council and leaves the UK for a new overseas role within his company. Akshay was additionally a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Jim Johnston runs a real estate consultancy, with over 40 years’ experience in investing, developing and managing large scale mixed-use regeneration and ‘green field’ projects across the UK. He also currently holds a number of non-executive roles across a range of organisations, with a particular interest in estate planning.
Harry Kutty is the Headteacher of Cantell School and Trust Leader of the Aspire Community Trust, alongside a range of voluntary and non-executive roles. He has previously worked in partnership with the University on a number of projects including the highly successful reading buddies programme which partnered over 80 Southampton undergraduates with young people at Cantell who struggled with their reading, and the COVID-19 saliva testing programme during the pandemic.
Our University Council is the ultimate governing and decision-making body of the University including with responsibilities relating to University finances, legal and regulatory compliance and the appointment of key officers. More information is available in our Ordinances.