Chair of the Board of Governors

The Chair of the Board of Governors plays an important role in the governance of the University while working independently of its regular executive management.

Appointed by the Board of Governors from within its lay membership, the Chair is responsible for its leadership and is accountable to all stakeholders for the Board’s effectiveness.

The post of chair can be held for a maximum of six years, apart from in exceptional circumstances, when the Board may appoint the same person for a further three years.

Philippa Hird, MA

Chair of the Board of Governors

Philippa joined the Board of Governors in 2021 and was appointed Chair in 2022.

Philippa is an independent director with a particular interest in governance, people strategy, recruitment, remuneration and the delivery of complex change.

She is currently Chair of the NHS Pay Review Body, Senior Independent Director and Remuneration Committee Chair of Ordnance Survey, a Non-Executive Director of UK Strategic Command and an independent member of the Remunerations Committee of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge.

As Group Human Resources Director of ITV Plc until 2009, Philippa shaped the consolidation of the regional ITV companies. Prior to that, she held general management and then HR roles in Granada Group Plc.

She began her career in marketing with ICI and has an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from The Queen's College, Oxford.

Philippa has been Deputy Chair and Remuneration Committee Chair of City, University of London and of AQA, a non-executive director of HMRC and of the Remuneration Consulting Group, a member of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for Cambridgeshire, a Board member of Opportunity Now and of Creative Skillset and Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). She is a Companion of the CIPD and a fellow of the RSA.

Tel: +44 (0) 161 306 9111
Email: chair@manchester.ac.uk