Reading College's board provides a wide range of experience and expertise that supports Reading College to promote excellence in learning and skills. Our board members are:

• Ms Sally Dicketts
• Mr Stephen McCormick
• Prof Sa’ad Medhat
• Mr Paul Miller
• Mr David Shepley-Cuthbert

Sally Dicketts

Sally Dicketts started teaching in Newport, South Wales and has held senior posts in Secondary Schools in London – Head of Business Studies, Careers and Head of fifth year. She worked for five years in various curriculum roles in Hackney College. In 1998 she joined the senior management team at Milton Keynes College, and became Principal and Chief Executive in 1996. In October 2003 she became the first Principal of Oxford & Cherwell Valley College.

This college was formed from the merger of Oxford College of Further Education, North Oxfordshire College and Rycotewood College. Sally is a member of the City & Guilds Learning and Assessment Policy Committee. She is a Board Member of ACM and AoC. She Chairs the Communications Gateway Practitioners Panel and the Women’s Leadership Network, is a member of the Oxfordshire Management Club, All Souls group and is a leading thinker for the National Education Trust. She sits on the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership, Oxford & Cherwell Strategic Partnerships and 14-19 Strategic Partnership.
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Stephen McCormick

Stephen McCormick is Deputy Principal at OCVC. Stephen was appointed to OCVC in 2003 to lead the strategic finance and planning of the newly merged college. He was responsible for the harmonisation of the finance, MIS, IT infrastructure and business systems. He was instrumental in creating the information services required to recover the college’s finances and quality.
Before joining OCVC, Stephen was part of the team which successfully transformed the failing Uxbridge College. He is a qualified accountant and prior to joining this sector had a successful career in the clothing industry.
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Professor Sa'ad Medhat PhD MPhil CEng FIET FCIM FCMI FRSA

Professor Medhat is the Chief Executive of the New Engineering Foundation (NEF) with an established reputation for driving forward initiatives from policy through to implementation in partnership with Government departments and agencies. NEF has provided grants for professional and curriculum development to over 150 colleges throughout the UK. Professor Medhat sits on the Boards of a number of technology and venture capital companies and is a Visiting Professor to Bournemouth University and a member of the Parliamentary and Science Committee. He also sits on the Business and Community Advisory Board of the Joint Academic Information Systems Committee (JISC).

Professor Medhat served as a member of the HEFCE's Quality Assessment in Learning and Teaching (2003-07) Committee and the Advisory and Assessment Panels of the Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. He was also a member of the University of Bristol's Court. Professor Medhat held a number of senior industrial and academic positions nationally and internationally including Vice President of Futuremedia PLC, Director of the Engineering and Technology Board, founding Principal of Dubai Polytechnic (1997-2000), IBM Professor of Concurrent Engineering, Intergraph Professor of Electronic Design Automation, Head of University Research and Head of School of Electronics at Bournemouth University (1992-94). He has published widely with over 60 publications and books worldwide and holds a number of invention patents. Sa'ad is married and enjoys travelling, hiking, swimming and cooking.
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Paul Miller

Paul worked with Porter Novelli, a leading international public relations consultancy, as a Strategic Planning specialist for over 20 years. He has pioneered the application of strategic planning and research to public relations programmes and Paul has been at the forefront of this within the industry ever since. In the past 3 years Paul's remit became international.
Specifically in Europe it was to strengthen the relationship between public relations programmes and their effectiveness at a tangible business value level. Paul's work at Porter Novelli also included business management experience at the most senior level, including six years as London office Managing Director and three years as company Managing Director. He now continues to provide strategic advice as an independent consultant across a spectrum of clients, drawing on his wide experience spanning research, brand marketing, new product development, advertising and public relations. His roots are in planning and research where he started his career, initially with North Thames Gas and subsequently with Beecham Proprietaries and General Foods.
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David Shepley-Cuthbert

David Shepley-Cuthbert is a Chartered Accountant who has extensive experience of both public and international companies as well as small to medium sized businesses. He started his career at Arthur Young & Co (now part of Ernst & Young). This was followed by seven years in Southern Africa finishing as Group Treasurer of Freight Services Holdings Limited, based in Johannesburg. In 1978 he joined RH Freight Services Limited, a Nottingham based European freight forwarding company as Managing Director of the transport and export packing subsidiary companies. In 1981 he joined Inchcape plc where he was a Finance Director and Controller for part of the Inspection and Testing Business Unit responsible for 50 companies turning over £80 million and operating in 25 countries.

From 1988 to 2003 he worked for Charles Taylor Consulting Group plc (CTC), where he was a senior member of a team which led CTC to a successful flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 1996. Since flotation he served as Group Company Secretary, Finance Director for the CTC USA businesses, Chief Financial Officer of CTC Signal Mutual Indemnity Association, a CTC client and was involved with the creation of new insurance mutuals. He is currently a shareholder and Non-Executive Director of several small developing companies as well as the Finance Director of 3DM Worldwide plc, an Oxfordshire based technology company.
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