Gordon McKenzie, currently Deputy Director, HE Strategy and Policy at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has been appointed as the new Chief Executive for GuildHE.

Professor Joy Carter, Chair of GuildHE and Vice Chancellor of the University of Winchester said:

We are absolutely delighted to be welcoming Gordon to GuildHE as our new Chief Executive. GuildHE institutions make a distinctive contribution to UK higher education and Gordons experience and expert knowledge put him in an especially strong position to champion the value and importance of GuildHE members to a diverse higher education sector.

Gordon McKenzie said: 

This is a very exciting opportunity for me to work with a strong team in an organisation that represents so many dynamic institutions with outstanding qualities. I am really looking forward to developing GuildHEs influential role in maintaining and shaping a UK higher education sector which transforms lives, enhances national and local economies and produces high impact, world leading research.

As a senior civil servant, Gordon has been working at a high level in government HE policy for almost a decade. He has experience handling sensitive areas including the implementation of the Browne review on HE funding and successive government spending reviews. He has also worked with a range of ministers on innovative policies including tackling an increase in graduate unemployment and encouraging the growth of a more competitive sector.

Gordon is a graduate of the University of Birmingham where he studied Drama.  

He takes up his new role as GuildHEs Chief Executive in early July, succeeding Andy Westwood who has joined Manchester University as Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Winchester University as Professor of Politics.