Celebrating 25 Years of Loyal Service

Rick joined the University for a short stint in 1996 as a Senior Learning officer running a photography studio & darkroom for Architecture & Landscape students in the now demolished Brunswick building. 

After this short contract ended, he worked as an industrial & commercial photography assistant for 6 months before being lured back to the University in 1997 on a term time contract, again working in Brunswick. This became a 2 year contract in January 1998, and in 2000 Rick moved into ‘H block’ on City campus, supporting Graphic arts, Fine Art & Contemporary Art students, finally securing a permanent full time contract in 2007. 

Shortly after this, the new building in Broadcasting Place opened and Rick was asked to move from Photography into Printmaking, partly due to a retirement but also because of his expertise in Bookbinding, inquisitive technical mind and attention to detail.  

In 2014 he became a Principal Learning officer in Printmaking and in 2020 completed his Masters in Art & Design with a distinction here at Leeds Beckett.  
Following a School restructure in 2020 Rick became the Principal Learning officer for Studios. He now leads in the busy Printmaking workshop whilst supporting the senior learning officers in Photography & Fashion. 

Rick is highly regarded by both colleagues and students and the printmaking workshop is an excellent mix of creativity, learning and fun for our students. Rick is as enthusiastic now as he was 25 years ago and still enjoys coming to work. 

Susan Watkins joined the university as a Senior Lecturer from the University of Chester. Today, she is Professor of Women's Writing in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Susan is a founder member and former Chair of the Contemporary Women's Writing Association and previously a Co-Editor of the Journal of Commonwealth Literature. She is widely published in the fields of twentieth century and contemporary women's writing and feminist theory, and dystopian and apocalyptic fiction, and has taught numerous undergraduate and postgraduate students in these fields. She was Director of the university's Centre for Culture and the Arts for 10 years.

Joanne (‘Jo’) started her career at the university in Registry. Since then, Jo has held a variety of roles in departments across the university including, Marketing, Languages and in what was formally known as the ‘International Faculty’.

Jo now works in the Graduate School, planning the delivery of the research student development framework for our postgraduate research students. Jo is a valued colleague both within the Graduate School among our academic colleagues, and is known for her kind welcoming nature. When not at work, Jo enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, travelling, visiting art exhibitions, and drinking good coffee.

Rebecca started her career at the University as a Clerk within the Creditors Team within Finance and due to an internal vacancy, moved very shortly afterwards to work within the Cashiers Team looking after the BACS payments. Rebecca very quickly became a valued member of the team, using her excellent investigatory powers (we call it her Crystal Ball) to search and allocate mysterious payments made into the University’s bank account. I have worked with Rebecca for all the 25 years she has been at the University and I value her both as a colleague and as a true friend. Outside of the University, Rebecca is an avid animal lover and enjoys walks with her Airedale dog called Bobby. She has just become a Grandma for the first time and is enjoying spoiling her granddaughter.

Karen started her career at the university in 1998, she lived nearby and always wanted to work at Headingley Campus. Karen often talks about her love of the campus and how working here feels like being part of a big family. Karen has always worked in Sport, through different structures, with different teams and, as Karen would say, some very interesting characters.

Karen talks about her old colleagues often and is still in touch with many of them. She fondly remembers working (and partying) with Caroline Thomas, Catriona Mcintyre, Annette Nottingham and Nicola Queenan in Carnegie Hall. Since joining the Carnegie School of Sport Office in 2017 Karen has become an invaluable member of the team. Karen’s wealth of knowledge, ability to ‘pull the rabbit out of the hat’ and many connections across the University means she plays a pivotal role in much of the School’s activity. Karen’s incredible kindness and sense of humour make her a much-loved member of her team, the School and wider University community. She’s even permanently prepped on Campus with a treat for her many 4-legged friends!

We are eternally grateful for Karen’s contributions to the School Office; for the of many hours of hard work she puts in and the unwavering friendship and support she offers.

Brian is a driven researcher, applied scientist and teacher who is an important part of our environment within the Carnegie School of Sport. Brian started his career at the university as a Part-Time Lecturer following the completion of his undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Science. He became a Full-Time Lecturer in 2005. Brian’s commitment to teaching and supporting the student experience was rewarded with a promotion to Senior Lecturer in 2008 and during his career has been the course leader for our Sport and Exercise Science degree. He continued his education at the university by studying for a PhD (Biomechanical Analysis of Elite Race Walking), which he completed in the academic year 2013/14.

Building upon the success of his PhD, Brian has become a World leading researcher with expertise in the technical analysis of running and race walking and is a Fellow of the European College of Sports Sciences. Brian’s work underpins the research and knowledge exchange in the area of optimising endurance performance, within the Centre for Human Performance. Over the years, Brain has made an outstanding contribution to the field of work, with his main focus being on the biomechanics of athletic events and pacing strategies. He led the scientific elements of the IAAF World Championships Biomechanics projects that were undertaken in 2017 and 2018.

This opportunity and the associated reports elevated his international reputation, and his peers see him as a World leading expert on the biomechanics of athletics, also the World’s leading authority on race walking. He has worked as an external consultant for European Athletics on their High-Performance programme and has recently supported work with the Leeds Athletics Talent Hub and Leeds United FC. Brian has worked with world-class athletes from Australia, Canada, Finland, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the US who travelled here for analysis. As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, he ensures his work research informs teaching, integrating his findings into modules, and providing opportunities for student engagement in his projects.

Karen started at the University in 1998 as a Graduate Trainee at what was then known as Beckett Park Learning Centre. She studied for the MSc in Information Studies and worked part-time in the Beckett Park Library. In 2000 she moved to City Campus to as Information Officer, and added a second part time role as a founder member of Skills for Learning, including contributing to the first edition of Quote Unquote.

In 2001 she moved into a maternity cover role as Senior Information Officer, then back again once the cover was completed. In 2005 another maternity cover opportunity arose, this time moving into an academic librarian role, which at the time were called Learning Advisors. Following her own maternity leave 2007 she was appointed to a permanent position of Academic Librarian, looking after many of the arts and humanities based schools. Her current role is still as an Academic Librarian but now as part of a team looking after several schools.

Karen brings a positivity and enthusiastic professionalism to all of the roles she has had at LBU. Over the years she has contributed to many cross library groups and projects including Communications and the Academic Services Group where she was instrumental in revitalising the Library Annual Reports with her creative flair.

David actually started his career working at Harrogate College (which was subsequently taken over by the University) as a Network Engineer. After providing support for the colleges server infrastructure David moved into a role in the University’s central IT Infrastructure Team and has held various positions over the years, most recently as a Senior Infrastructure Operations Specialist. David has been involved with a number of major developments in the University’s IT Infrastructure including the introduction and ongoing support and development of our virtualisation platform VMWare. David’s knowledge and experience of a wide range of University IT systems is invaluable, and his commitment to supporting these systems and their users is very much appreciated both within IT Services and across the University.

Steve started working at the university in the Voice and Data team, supporting telephone and data networking. Steve later became a Development Leader responsible for a small team who implemented, supported and maintained a wide range of university IT systems. Steve’s current role as a Senior Infrastructure Operations Specialist means that he is the lead technical contact on a number of vital services that underpin the universities IT.

Steve has led projects to introduce several major new systems and services over the years including the design, build and migration to the universities main data centre location, a project so large and complex it took almost two years to complete with Steve working almost exclusively on it for that time! Steve is always willing to share his knowledge and expertise with colleagues, and regularly assists new members of the department with training on the systems that he supports

James came into the university as an IT Technician, partly because of his experience with a new technology of the time called Windows NT. Initially based out of the James Graham building in Headingley, he has served in a number of management positions within IT Services and has always been a welcome point of contact for our customers across the university. He has also been responsible for developing many of our Student Placements as they have followed successful careers both within the university and beyond.

For many years, James was also a senior member of Unison and was well respected around the university for his personal integrity and his keen sense for the value and potential of his colleagues. Most recently, James has been Project Manager for the End User Device replenishment programme, a particularly challenging task during the days of Covid lockdown. In addition to his interest in IT, James is also a talented artist across a range of different styles and media and was a founding member of the IT Services Backgammon club.

Janet started her career at the University as Human Resources Assistant in January 1998. Janet has remained loyal to Human Resources throughout her career and has held a number of different administrative and secretarial roles across the service. Janet is a highly valued member of the HR Team, using her excellent organisational skills, helpful manner and accrued knowledge. More recently, Janet has provided administrative support to the Occupational Health Team and HR Support Team.

Outside of work Janet is the 6th Wortley Unit Girl Guiding Leader and has been guiding for 36 years. More recently, Janet has taken on the role of Division Commissioner.

Karen joined the university as a food services operative where she undertook various tasks from serving food from the counters, filling vending machines, serving dinners in themed fancy-dress and delivering hospitality.

As the number of enquiries increased from customers looking to hire the university’s facilities, she was asked to join the office team to respond to these requests. Then in 2007 “Well Met Conferencing” was created – the university’s commercial conferencing department. Karen worked in this small team which went from strength to strength and eventually saw a team of 13 come together to plan and deliver the conferences we hosted.

A real milestone was in 2017 when Cloth Hall Court opened- a dedicated Conference Centre which she loved. Karen has been an integral part of the conferencing team, delivering some large and complex events over the years, including Italian Summer Schools, The Open University, Mott Macdonald, Calligraphy Festival, British Kodaly and of course Teach First – the largest Educational Event in Europe – which at its peak was for over 4000 delegates over 2 weeks.

Recently, Karen has moved departments – to External Relations to the Events team where she has worked on university and school events and of course, Graduation! Karen is the first to suggest an office fuddle or a team meal in a Thai restaurant and when she isn’t at work she can be found on holiday – somewhere with some good walking routes!

Back in the 90’s there was a brief period where the then School of Computing developed deliveries aimed at the burgeoning market for Malaysian students. Meg was one of those students, joining us to complete her BSc and impressing all that taught her. So much so that she was persuaded to stay and take up an academic post. Meg’s keen interest in pedagogy and student experience led her to engage actively with the CLT unit within the university, including being seconded for several years to the Technology-Enhanced Learning Team, taking on the role of Director in the Learning Technology unit and completing an MSc in Online Education.

Returning to teaching Meg has continued to champion student experience with a strong focus on approaches to learning at level 4. In recent years Meg has taken on the challenge to increase her research activity, bringing together her expertise in usability and data analytics - the completion of her PhD. is now on the horizon.

Duncan’s link to the university started when he enrolled for a PhD. He hadn’t quite finished before the demand for computing expertise, which was growing swiftly as the Y2K bug loomed on the horizon, drew him into a staff role.

He has been the mainstay of our software engineering curriculum ever since. His knowledge and expertise has always been appreciated by students and he has guided many students to lucrative programming careers. However, Duncan is as well known by staff colleagues for his competitive cycling career, something that continues to bring him a great deal of satisfaction and has left him with more than one or two metal pins.

Looking forward Duncan is developing promising new research links and finding common ground with recently appointed colleagues, working alongside and supporting them to raise the subject areas research profile.

Mark’s relationship with the university goes back before the time he took up a staff post. Mark completed his degree here and followed this with a PhD. After that time Mark went to try his hand in industry before returning to take up an academic post.

Mark has always been someone that is exploring and setting himself side projects. It was one of these projects that developed into a product with commercial potential. Linking up with the University enterprise unit Mark spent several years developing the product and managing a spin-off business.

Refreshed after a few years, Mark returned to his academic post, once again bringing a keen understanding of industry practices. Not one to stay static, Mark is always on the lookout for new challenges and stepped forward to lead our apprenticeship programme, quickly finding himself in the eye of the Ofsted storm.

Going forward Mark is aiming to revive and secure our apprenticeship offering to ensure that it continues to meet the expectations of industry and students – whilst still finding time for a few side-projects.

Bridgette began her career at LBU in 2000 as a Senior Lecturer in Psychology as she was completing her PhD. She progressed to Principal Lecturer (2014) then Head of Psychology (2016-) and is now leading a team of 50+ academics and managing 700+ students on different programmes (UG/MSc/PhD). Currently, Bridgette is Chair Elect for the Association of Heads of Psychology UK (145 members).

During her time as Head, Psychology has developed into a University success story, securing course accreditations from the British Psychological Society (BPS), expanding teaching provision for cohorts of diverse, capable students and building a reputation for research excellence. Bridgette has also developed her own research programme over the years, mainly focused on how women negotiate intersections of social class and gender within the workplace, and she recently led a BPS funded project addressing class-based inequalities.

Her work has been published in leading journals over the years (e.g. Feminism & Psychology; Gender, Work & Organisation), and she is increasingly in demand as a keynote speaker. In recognition of her research achievements, Bridgette was promoted to Reader in 2022. Bridgette is also an experienced PhD supervisor and has supported 8 students through to completion; she has also examined 6 PhD theses at other universities (3 international).

She has occupied several external roles, most notably as Chair of the BPS Women & Equalities Section (2018-21). She is now founding Editor-in-Chief of the new Journal of Psychology and Social Class, and she is formerly Co-Editor of Psychology & Sexuality (2015 – 2018). Bridgette is admired within and beyond the Psychology group for her inclusive leadership style, collegiality and commitment to staff development and wellbeing.

Faye started her career at the university whilst studying. Her first post was in the Schools Inspection Service project, located in the School of Professional Education & Development. Faye went on to be a Course Administrator before becoming a Senior Officer in 2005, and subsequently a Principal Officer, working in both the School of Sport and the School of Education and Professional Development.

Faye then moved on to a Faculty role as Quality Assurance and Governance Manager before joining the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management as Academic Services Manager in 2017. When not at work or studying for her research degree, Faye enjoys cooking and spending time with her family.

Joanne began her career at the university as a Course Administrator in 1998 supporting courses within the Faculty of Health, over the years Joanne has provided support to students and academic staff on a range of courses including Biomedical Sciences, Health & Safety, Psychology and Sports & Exercise Therapy and has been a valued member of the team throughout.

Over the years Joanne has been recognised a number of times in providing excellent support for their students including a nomination for the Excellence in Customer Services Delivery Award at the Leeds Beckett Achieving Excellence awards in 2015 and nominated again for various Golden Robes Awards thereafter.

Joanne remains in the School of Health and currently supports Postgraduate and Undergraduate Biomedical Sciences courses and continues to deliver a friendly, approachable and professional level of services to students and staff.   

Simon started his career in Computing Services as a Work-Placement Student while studying for his Degree at Leeds Metropolitan University. He enjoyed the challenge and role so much that when an opportunity arose for a full-time position; he applied, was successful and never looked back. While many things have changed in this time Simon's love for the role, enthusiasm and dedication have not.

It is typical within IT to move around the specialist fields, but Simon enjoys the challenge of managing a Desktop environment, while this may sound a little geeky "we are of course IT" and Simon is in good company within his team. While I know Simon is proud of his many achievements and voluntary efforts in the name of Leeds Beckett University, he has recently become a father and I suspect this may just top the past 25 years.

Despite now being more than twice as old as he was back in 1998, his ability to 'keep up' with an ever-changing role is possibly sharper now than ever due to theskills that can only come with dedication, ability, and experience. Simon has numerous vocations in life, but he is particularly keen on music festivals (both home and abroad) and a night out on the town - both of which allow him to socialise with his friends and family.

Catherine, known as Kay to her colleagues and friends, is the longest serving member of the Specialist Study Skills Tutor team, part of the Disability Service, Library and Student Services. She has been with the university since the service began, setting up the specialist support team with her colleague Sandra Falshaw, who retired last year after 24 years’ service.

As a Specialist Study Skills tutor, Kay has worked with hundreds of students over the years, providing teaching and learning for students with SpLDs (specific learning differences). Kay has one-to-one tutorials with a caseload of students to help them develop strategies and skills to address any barriers to learning due to their disability.

Kay is greatly valued and appreciated by students and colleagues alike. She is a willing participant at meetings and get togethers and always ready to share her wealth of experience with colleagues. Her ready smile, sense of fun and genuine warmth have made her a popular colleague over her many years’ service.

Flora started her LBU career in January 1999 as an Administrator in Estates. Flora always worked with Estates, only moving to The Office for Leeds & Yorkshire for a short period before returning to Estates as an Administrative Officer. In 2011 she joined Financial Services and quickly became a valued and reliable member of the team. She used her extensive Estates knowledge to again support colleagues in Estates along with learning the practices of several other Schools and Services. She worked in Financial Services until she retired in June 2023. During her 25 years Flora was always based at City Campus, ironically her last office location, before working from home, was in Queen Square House just a few doors down from 22 Queen Square where her first LBU role was based.

Outside of work Flora is a keen runner and during her life at LBU she completed 15 marathons, numerous half marathons and over 300 Park Runs. Her first marathon was the London Flora Marathon and her latest being the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon in May 2023.

Puspa joined in 1998 and held the role of the International Development Manager, and in 2017 became the Regional Manager (Middle East and Africa) and has travelled extensively meeting Leeds Beckett prospective students.

Aly joined in 1998 as a Senior Information Services Librarian, and has developed her career through specialising in providing support to students with Disabilities and becoming a specialised dyslexia support tutor in providing one to one support for adults with specific learning difficulties and disabilities.

Stephen is a pioneer in the area of sports development, representing our University in a number of influential national settings. Since joining us in 1998, he has designed an industry endorsement scheme for sports development degrees and been involved in the production of the first ever bespoke National Occupational Standards for Sports Development.

Information coming soon

Mohammed studied at the University of Huddersfield for his degree in electric, electronic and communications engineering before joining Leeds Beckett University. He is both a colleague and has been a student at LBU having studied for a B-Eng and an MSC since joining the workforce.

Information coming soon

Information coming soon

Information coming soon