Prof. Valerie Anderson

Valerie Anderson – Professor of Human Resource Development and Education, University of Portsmouth and Co-Chair of UFHRD.

I am a committed researcher practitioner and an expert in learning, development and employability. Prior to my academic career I worked in operational and consultancy learning and development roles in private and public sector organizations. I am Chair of the BSI Committee responsible for standards development in Human Capital Management and Convenor of the ISO Working Group to develop the first International Standard for Learning and Development in Organizations. I am the leading author of the CIPD book: Research Methods in HRM, currently in its 4rd edition and supervise Doctoral and Masters students who are carrying out applied research projects.  I am looking forward to submitting some of my own project work to the Practitioner Research and Learning and Teaching stream and I invite you to do so too!

Prof. Lynn Nichol

I’m focused on supporting practitioners in business and in higher education and helping them change organisational practice through their research.

I work at the University of Worcester, where I am Professor of Human Resource Development and Programme Director for the Doctorate in Business Administration.  Until July 2021 I was Head of the Management and Finance Department and lead for Learning and Teaching at Worcester Business School.  Currently I am Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange

I’m Deputy Chair of the UFHRD Learning and Education Committee.  Working with colleagues in UFHRD has always been an enriching and positive experience and the conference in particular is a fantastic event to share and development practice.   I’m looking forward to being inspired and challenged by the conference and would encourage practitioners in higher education and business to submit papers.

Dr Christine O’Leary

I am a Principal Lecturer in the Sheffield Business School at Sheffield Hallam University where I have held a number of leadership and management roles including programme leadership, Associate Director for the Centre for Excellence in Promoting Learner Autonomy (CPLA), Director of Sheffield Business School’s Centre for Pedagogic Research and Innovation (CPRI), Sheffield Business School Assessment Lead and Subject Group Leader for the Languages and Cultures Subject Area. I am currently leading on a project relating to developing the assessment literacy of culturally and linguistically diverse students. I also co- lead the University’s Hallam Guild Assessment for Applied learning Forum and lead its Advance HE Principal/ Senior Fellow Network.

As a Principal Fellow of Advance HE, I am committed to leading and supporting the development of colleagues in Learning and teaching and pedagogic scholarship/ research both within and outside the University through leadership roles in professional subject associations and international research networks.

I am an active researcher, practitioner, and contributor to local, national and international research networks relating to the development of learner/ teacher autonomy within formal educational contexts and assessment. I have presented papers at both national and international conferences, and published articles in refereed publications in these areas since the mid 1990s.