Governance

Peter Hansford is Chair of the Board of Directors of TEDI-London. A chartered civil engineer with over 40 years experience in infrastructure projects in the UK, Asia and the Middle East, Peter is a Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, former Chief Construction Adviser to the UK Government and an Emeritus Professor of University College London.

Honours and awards include the CBE in 2020 for services to innovation in civil engineering, the Sir Monty Finniston Award for lifetime achievement from the Association for Project Management and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Nottingham. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and in August 2023, was conferred the title of Emeritus Professor of Construction and Infrastructure Policy by UCL.

Peter has led strategic reviews in rail investment, infrastructure safety, air quality and building insulation. He was a commissioner in a statutory inquiry in Hong Kong.

Peter is a Saracens season ticket holder and keen England rugby supporter.

Mark Searle is executive vice president and university provost at Arizona State University. He holds the rank of professor in the School of Community Resources and Development in the College of Public Service and Community Solutions. Prior to this current administrative appointment, Mark served as interim provost, deputy provost and chief of staff, vice president for academic personnel, vice provost for academic affairs, founding dean of the College of Human Services, and as vice president and provost of ASU’s West campus.

Mark joined ASU after an extensive career in Canada where he was the founding director of the multidisciplinary Health, Leisure, and Human Performance Research Institute. Prior to his university appointment, Mark served in various management positions within municipal and provincial government. Mark is widely published on the relationships between sense of community, leisure behaviour and the psychological well-being of adults across the lifespan.

Emma was appointed Chief Operating Officer of British Land in January 2025. Prior to this, she jointly led the company’s 53-acre Canada Water development project in central London.

Emma joined British Land in 2014 from Landsec where she delivered a number of Central London developments as well as overseeing their strategic land portfolio. Prior to this, Emma held development and land management roles at Barratt and Crest Nicholson.

Prof Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi is the ARM Professor of Computing Engineering and Vice President (Research & Innovation) at King’s College London. His research focuses on understanding through theory and practice interactions between hardware and software of constrained computing systems and how such understanding can be used to optimise energy reduction and improve performance. Recognised internationally through numerous awards including the IET Faraday Medal in 2020, he received a CBE for services to engineering and industry in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2013, and Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023.

Colin Grant is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Global at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney). Previously he was Vice Principal International at Queen Mary University of London. He was Chair of the British Council Education Advisory Group and Trustee of the Council for At Risk Academics (CARA) 2018-2022 . He served on the DAAD Strategic Partnerships Committee. He was Inaugural Chair of the Russell Group International Forum until early 2019 and was Universities UK (UUK) lead for Latin America (2014-2017).

He has extensive leadership experience in Brazil, China, India, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa. He was a long-standing member of the UUK International Strategic Advisory Board until August 2019.

Professor Grant is the author of several monographs covering literature, political science, psychology, epistemology and the theory of communication.