Governance

Board of Management

Kish Srinivasan

Chair Board of Management
Member of Chairs' and Quality Enhancement Committees
Born in India, Kish was educated at St Xavier’s School in Calcutta. In addition to obtaining an honours degree in Economics, he is also a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (admitted 1970).
Prior to 1983, Kish combined a career in academia with operating a part-time auditing and tax practice. He was a lecturer (and latterly) senior lecturer in Accounting at Napier Institute of Commerce and Technology. From 1983 to 1990, he was Head of Department of Accountancy and Economics at Dundee Institute of Technology, where we was also Dean of the Management Faculty (1985-1987 and 1989-1990). Kish led and participated in many of the development of degree courses in accountancy, economics and other management-related areas which contributed in due course to the granting of university status for both Napier and Abertay Universities. He has also been Chief Examiner and served on various committees with SQA and its various predecessors over many years.
Kish joined HMI in 1990, where he was involved initially in HE sector liaison (particularly with Robert Gordon University). His varied subsequent roles included a spell of responsibility within HMIe for the Wider Access Programme in the West of Scotland, Lead Inspector for liaison with the Scottish Further and Higher Education Council, and finally Assistant Chief Inspector – FE till his retirement from full-time employment in May 2006.
Kish is currently the captain of Scotscraig Golf Club and a Past President of the Rotary Club of North Fife.
Kish joined the College Board of Management in 2007.

Mary Crighton

Chair Quality Enhancement Committee
Member of Chairs' and Audit Committees
Mary was born in Dundee and educated at Lawside Academy and graduated in Law from Dundee University in 1972. After completing her Apprenticeship and Post Qualifying Assistantship with a local firm she joined her present firm, Calders, Solicitors in 1975 becoming a Partner of that firm in 1977.
She has been involved as a Council Member of both the Scottish Law Agents Society and the Faculty of Procurators and Solicitors in Dundee and was an external examiner in Professional Ethics for the Faculty of Law and Accountancy, University of Dundee Diploma in Legal Practice.
She was a Council Member and Vice-President of the former Dundee & Tayside Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
She has been involved in various Charitable Organisations having been a Council Member for Dundee Voluntary Action and subsequently a Director of DVA Limited and from 1998 until 2004 was involved with Headway Tayside, initially as Treasurer then as Vice-Chairman and Chairman.
Mary became a Board Member of Dundee College in 2002 and is also a Trustee of Dundee College Charitable Trust.

Mike Galloway

Member of Finance & Property Committee
Mike was born in Aberfeldy, but spent his childhood in Glasgow before moving to Perth in his early teens. He was educated at Perth Academy and then the University of Dundee where he gained a degree in Town Planning. He then received a post graduate Masters degree in Urban Design at Oxford Brookes.
His career began in Glasgow District Council before moving onto the London Borough of Lewisham and Manchester City Council and then returning to Glasgow City Council. In 1990, Mike set up his own Planning & Development Consultancy prior to returning to Dundee in 1997 to take up the post of Director of Planning & Transportation at the City Council. In 2009 he was appointed as Director of City Development responsible for Planning, Engineering, Architecture, Transportation, Property and Economic Development for the Council.
Mike has been instrumental in a wide range of regeneration projects across the UK including Glasgow Merchant City, London Docklands, Manchester City Centre and Glasgow Gorbals; he is now leading the Dundee Waterfront Project which is the 2nd largest such project in Scotland and includes the delivery of the V&A at Dundee.
In 2008, Mike was awarded an OBE for services to Urban Regeneration and in 2011 he was the Institute of Director's Scottish Public Sector Director of the Year. Mike is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Ralph Harrison

Chair Human Resource & Development Committee
Member of Chairs' and Audit Committees
Ralph was educated at the High School of Dundee thereafter Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art studying Architecture. Following this he commenced employment with the Civil Service working for a number of departments in Tayside and Grampian, mainly concerned with managing government training programmes. Ralph took up a post with Scottish Enterprise Tayside in 1991 and is currently Organisational Development Manager. His work is mainly with businesses to improve their performance through people, notably leadership and management development as well as ensuring all employees have the requisite skills and experience in order to meet the objectives of the company.
Prior to current emphasis on businesses the role involved education in schools, colleges and universities particularly involved with the re-introduction of vocational training in schools complimentary to academic study.
For 3 years Ralph was Chairman to the Tayside Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Partnership as well as the Co-ordinator for Scotland of the Jaguar F1 in Schools Challenge and he retains a strong interest in the promotion of science and technology particularly to young people.
Ralph resides in Newport and is married with three grown up children and three grandchildren. His eldest daughter with family lives nearby, his son lives and works in Edinburgh, and his youngest daughter lives and works in London.
He enjoys travelling, cars and many other outdoor activities particularly mountain biking.
His job has and to some extent still does involve him with a number of initiatives in the college and therefore gives him an insight into the workings of the institution that he can draw upon as a board member. In addition as he works for an economic development agency he can bring a wide breadth of experience to the board particularly in the area of people development.
Ralph joined the College Board of Management in 2007.

Simon Hewitt

Member of Property & Finance; Human Resources & Development and Quality Enhancement Committees
Born in Portadown, Northern Ireland, Simon was educated at Portadown College and left Northern Ireland in 2001 to attend the University of Abertay Dundee, where he obtained a BSc (Hons) in Business Computing.
In 2003, during his 3rd Year at university, Simon was appointed on a part time basis by NHS Tayside to take on an IT Administrator post. Upon graduation in 2004 Simon was then appointed on a full time basis with them and fulfilled a number of key roles over a 5 year period.
Some of these roles included Project Management, Systems Support, Software Development and IT Training. Simon worked on some key projects during this time period including the implementation of a new staff portal for 14,000 users across Tayside as well as the implementation of a new Document Management System for Ninewells Hospital.
It was the IT Training role however that sparked Simon’s enthusiasm for teaching and in November 2003 Simon was appointed, on a part time evening basis, within the Computing Department of Angus College to deliver short IT courses to their satellite centres in Forfar, Montrose and Brechin.
In September 2007 Simon was appointed by Dundee College to the Computing Department on a part time evening basis and was eventually recruited full time in September 2008.
Simon’s hard work and determination was rewarded in November 2010, just 2 years into a lecturing post, when he was promoted to the role of Curriculum Manager in Computing. In August 2012 when the Computing Department merged with the Creative Media Department Simon was then appointed as the Curriculum Manager of the new combined Department.
Simon joined the College Board of Management in 2013.

Councillor Stewart Hunter

Member of Human Resource & Development Committee
Stewart was born in Dundee and educated at Menzieshill High School. He graduated in European Social Policy and Politics from the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside (now the University of Lincoln) which included six months studying at the HEBO Institute in Den Hagg, The Netherlands.
After graduating he worked for NCR for ten years before being elected to Dundee City Council in 2007.
In 2012 he became the Convenor of Education. He is also a Director of the Ardler Village Trust, Dovetail and Dundee Leisure Trust as well as a Trustee on the Education Trust and Morgan Trust.
Stewart is the constituency assistant for Joe Fitzpatrick MSP and is married with two young children.

Gary Langlands

Member of Finance & Property Committee
Gary was born and educated in Dundee before commencing his career in DC Thomson in the digital media area. Recognising a calling to go into business he followed in his late father’s footsteps and took up a career in sales and marketing, working for some of the largest corporations in the world such as Royal Dutch Shell, Johnson & Johnson and French dairy giant Bongrain SA. Gary moved to England to take up these posts, returning to Dundee in 1999 to join NCR as Global Senior Marketing Manager for Services.
In February 2004 Gary started his own company, Vision Sound and Light providing audiovisual expertise to universities, colleges and business. Gary was the first President of the Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce, founding the organisation after the demise of the previous Chamber in Dundee. He remains a Director of the Chamber and lives in Dundee with Roz his wife of over 30 years.
During his career, as well as sales for which he was selected as Salesman of the Year twice in a row at American Pharmaceutical Company Johnson & Johnson, Gary has held responsibilities for manufacturing and has been trained in LEAN, Six Sigma, TQM, SMED, Kaizen and Design for Excellence procedures. Marketing responsibilities held at other times in Gary’s career have exposed his to stringent business disciplines and also training at Ashridge Management College and many other business training centres.
Currently past President of the Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce, Gary is passionate about Dundee and the surrounding areas as a place to live, work and participate in Further Education. Gary said “Dundee has one of the best locations in the UK, is one of the sunniest places in Scotland and is Scotland’s only south facing city. Thanks mainly to the universities and college, Dundee is a very cosmopolitan city with new industries fighting to take over from the traditional industries. The role which Dundee College plays is critical for students and industry alike as business needs are responded to with the curriculum being offered. I have witnessed a number of fantastic achievements by students at Dundee College over the years and I am delighted to have an opportunity to make a contribution to the future of the College by being part of the Board of Management.”

Jan Low

Member of Human Resource & Development and Finance & Property Committees
Born in Dundee and educated at Linlathen High School, Dundee. Studied Accountancy at Dundee College of Commerce from 1986. After a number of years working in Accountancy and Hospitality in the UK and overseas, returned to study at Dundee College in 2000, progressing to gain a BA (Hons) in Information Management at University of Abertay.
Jan has worked at Dundee College for 11 years and is currently a member of the eLearning support team.
Jan enjoys to travel and has worked in, and travelled to, many places worldwide. Scotland remains her favourite country.
Non-teaching staff Board Member since May 2012.

Kenny McKeown

Member of Quality Enhancement Committee

Pamela Milne

Member of Human Resource & Development Committee
Pam has 20 years experience of working as an HR professional. Employed as the University of Dundee’s HR Director since 2002, she started her employment with the University in 1990, as an Assistant Personnel Officer. She is a member of the Senior Management Team and Pam’s remit includes not only the HR function but also Health and Safety, Occupational Health, Equality and Diversity, Organisational and Professional Development and HR Legal Services.
On a professional level, she co-convened for some time the Scottish Universities Heads of Personnel (SHOP) group. This involved not only raising and discussing HR issues which were important to the sector but also provided, on behalf of the HR community, views and advice to other bodies such as: the Scottish Funding Council, Universities Scotland and the Universities HR (UHR).
She also sits on the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) Scottish Committee, the UCEA Research Advisory Panel and Universities Scotland Efficiencies Taskforce.
Pam is also a member of the Board of Governors at Strathallan School in Perthshire.

Alex Murdoch

Member of Finance & Property and Human Resource & Development Committees
Alex was born in Perth and educated at Perth Academy. After a year at Dundee Technical College he worked in the Headquarters of the General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation in Perth. Appointed Area Secretary of the Scottish Grocers’ Association in 1964 he qualified as a Chartered Secretary, subsequently becoming a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators.
In 1975 Alex joined C J Lang & Son Ltd as Finance Director and was appointed Chief Executive in 1985. During his time with C J Lang he was a Director of Spar Food Distributors Ltd and Chairman of Landmark Cash and Carry Group.
Since retiring in 2000 he has been Chairman of Highland Reserve Forces and Cadets Association, Lord Dean of the City of Dundee Guildry Incorporation, a lay member of HMIe and a member of the Scottish Committee of Postwatch Scotland.
Alex is married with two sons and four grandchildren, he is a member of Blairgowrie Golf Club and Panmure Golf Club.

Christina Potter

Principal & Chief Executive (ex Officio Member of All Board Committees)
In August 2007, after 10 years as Principal of Elmwood College in Fife, Christina Potter was appointed Principal at Dundee College. Christina has spent almost 30 years in the College sector, working both in England and Scotland. Starting as a Lecturer in Computing and moving on to a variety of management posts, Christina has worked in a wide range of college settings, including large inner city institutions and small, rural colleges.
Prior to moving into Further Education, Christina had a successful career in the computing industry, spent mainly with ICL but including posts at RBS and Scottish & Newcastle Breweries. She holds professional computing qualifications and is a full member of the British Computing Society. In 1996, she completed an MBA (with Distinction) at Warwick University.
Christina has served on a number of Scottish Funding Council Committees including the Collaboration and Mergers Advisory Committee, the Further Education Student Support Advisory Group and the Working Group on Funding.
Currently she is a member of the Court of Dundee University and a Director of Scotland’s Colleges.
Christina’s leisure interests include Theatre, Music and Art as well as reading and coastal walks.

Graham Ramsay

Student President

Mary Ray

Member of Quality Enhancement Committee
Mary was born in Glasgow and educated at Whitehill Secondary School before entering the teaching profession in 1965.
During her period of holding successful headships at two primary schools, she undertook seven years of study with the Open University completing her BA degree as well as a Diploma in Reading and Language.
She was appointed Assistant Director of Education with Tayside Council in 1988, one of only 3 female Directors in Scotland at the time, and in 1990 she was given responsibility for Education in Angus.
She retired from that post in 1997 and became Manager of the Volunteer Bureau in Cupar, and subsequently Training Coordinator for Volunteer Centre Fife, delivering a wide range of training to enhance the skills of the voluntary sector. She retired in 2011.
During her time in education she had responsibility for developing Equal Opportunities policies, promoted 'Women into Engineering' and developed new management programmes to promote and encourage 'Women into Management'.
Working in the voluntary sector, she has taken an active role on various partnership strategic groups with Fife Council. She was a Director on Citizens Advice and Rights Fife, is a committee member with BASE (a charity for blind and visually impaired people) and is Vice president of SAMS (St Andrews Musical Society). She was an active member of the Association of Speakers Clubs for 10 years and is now a rehearsal pianist for various music groups in Fife.

George Robertson

Chair Finance & Property Committee
Member of Chairs' Committee
Having obtained a BA (Hons) in Business Studies in 1976 from what is now University of Abertay Dundee, George worked primarily in the electronics industry for over 30 years in a number of positions covering Finance, Operations, Supply Chain and Quality before setting up his own consultancy in 2008 advising SME's on finance, supply chain and business improvement.
An Associate of CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) since 1979 and a Fellow since 1999 he has been active at Branch, Regional and National level serving on CIMA Council for 6 years to 2006 and as Scottish Chairman until 2008. He was awarded a silver medal (one of less than 50 currently worldwide) by CIMA in 2009 for his services to the Institute. He remains involved with CIMA as a membership assessor.
A keen cyclist (weather permitting) George spends the rest of his spare time with his family.

Professor Mike Swanston

Vice Chair Board of Management
Chair of Audit Committee
Member of Chairs' Committee
Mike is Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Abertay Dundee and Honorary Research Fellow, School of Psychology, Dundee University. He was Vice-Principal of Abertay University from 2002 until his retirement in 2008. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Dundee Science Centre.
He has been Vice-Chair of the Board of Management of Elmwood College (2000-07), a Director of Dundee Ice Arena (1999-2002), a member of the City of Discovery Campaign Committee (2003-05) and a member of Universities Scotland Learning & Teaching and Research & Commercialisation Committees (1999-2008).
His current research interests are in the visual perception of space and motion. He has published over 50 research papers and co-authored a textbook on vision.