At Trevelyan, our advisory board is a distinguished group of experts helping to raise our College profile and provide guidance, knowledge and skills to our students.
Joy Carter (Co chair)
Professor Joy Carter was formerly the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Winchester. She is an academic with research-based in Geochemistry and Health and was a former President of the international society in her field. Professor Carter is currently a Co-Chair of the Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education, Chair of St Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and Chair of the National Governing Body (NGB) of Squash. Professor Carter is a Patron of 6 charities and is a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Hampshire. Passionate about all aspects of sustainability and social justice, she has particular interests in climate change, widening participation, sport and animal welfare. She is an ambassador for Religions for Peace International and a member of the Standing Committee on Nurturing a Sustainable Environment. Professor Carter was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours in 2018 for services to Higher Education.
Zoe Scheinman (Co chair)
Zoe Scheinman attended Trevelyan College from 1984-88, with a year abroad in China at People's University Beijing. After graduation with a degree in Chinese, she moved to Hong Kong to work for Jones Lang in a new real estate department. In due course, she migrated again and landed in California, where she still lives. Zoe has an MBA from UC Berkeley and worked as a Product Manager for a couple of manufacturing companies. She is delighted to maintain her connection to Durham University as a board member of the North American Foundation for the University of Durham (NAFUD), which raises money, supports alumni in the US, and assists with admissions. Zoe credits Trev's and Durham for her education, career, spouse, and some very fun times.
Stephen Tuck
Stephen Tuck is Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of Pembroke College. His research interests include modern race equality struggles in the United States, the relationship between religion and racism, and the writing of national history. His books include We Ain't What We Ought To Be: the black freedom struggle from emancipation to Obama (2010), and (with Robin Kelley) The other special relationship: race and rights in Britain and America (2014). He was the founding director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, and is currently the community history officer in the faculty of history.
Claire Wilkinson
Claire graduated from Trevelyan College in 1987 with Joint Honours in French and German. She qualified as a solicitor and spent 11 years in private practice at Slaughter and May, 11 years in various general counsel roles in private equity and has just completed her eighth year in asset management as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Payden & Rygel Global Limited. She founded the Private Equity Lawyers Forum in 2003 for the advancement of professional standards and training in the private equity sector. She's served on BVCA and Invest Europe industry committees promoting standards in private equity as well as teaching Invest Europe foundation courses in private equity and serving on the Investment Association's Financial Crime Committee. She is a director of NESsT UK Limited, a charity backing social enterprises in Eastern Europe and Latin America. She raises money for women's social justice causes and a mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation.
Yuru Guo
Yuru graduated from Trevelyan College with an MSc in Management (Entrepreneurship). A passionate entrepreneur and innovator, her journey toward social impact began in 2016 while working with the UN Refugee Agency in New York. The experience gave her deep insight into the challenges of cultural assimilation and strengthened her commitment to creating meaningful change through community and culture.
During her time at Trevelyan, shared potluck dinners with friends from around the world sparked the idea for Hey! Food is Ready—a hyperlocal online marketplace that connects certified cooks from diverse cultural backgrounds with companies seeking inclusive catering for events. The platform empowers refugees, immigrants, and underrepresented communities to share their native cuisines while generating meaningful income. She now works with clients such as Google, IKEA, and NatWest to provide culturally rich corporate catering.
Yuru’s work has been recognised by Forbes 30 Under 30 (Arts & Culture), a list celebrating young leaders reshaping the cultural landscape through creativity and innovation. She is also a recipient of the Young Innovator Award from Innovate UK and the Inclusive Innovation Award, which honours businesses championing diversity and inclusion across the UK.
Ali Layne-Smith
Ali attended Trevs between 1987 and 1991 when it was women only. Ali was elected JCR Vice President in her first year, and JCR President the following year. Ali studied a new degree launched in 1987 - the BA in Education (Hons) and gained a 2.1 with qualified teaching status.
As part of her degree Ali studied Botany for 2 years in expectation that she would lead the Science stream of the recently launched National Curriculum once she started teaching. Her 9-week teaching practice in an inner London school demonstrated that whilst she loved working with children, she did not have the life skills needed to help children suffering depravation and poverty; to develop holistically. Using the transferable skills gained as a JCR Exec member, Ali transitioned to a career in Human Resources where she remains today. Ali has worked for some of the best known blue chip companies in the world including Ford Motor Company, GE Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, and Tate & Lyle. After decades working in the private sector she moved to the public sector to lead the cultural transformation of the UK's second largest police force (West Midlands); then onto a similar role in the NHS at London Ambulance Service.
Since then Ali has completed a number of assignments in the public sector - most recently as HR Director for 27,600 people at HMRC. Ali is also a Non-Exec Director for a £1.6bn NHS Trust and has been a Trustee of a 52-school UK-wide Academy Trust.
Professor Adekunle Adeyeye (College Principal)
Adekunle graduated with First Class Honors from the University of IIorin, Nigeria in 1990. He obtained his MPhil in Microelectronics Engineering and Semiconductor Physics; PhD at the University of Cambridge in 1993 and 1996 respectively.
Adekunle was the founding Master of Ridge View Residential College and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National University of Singapore, where he has worked from May 2000 to January 2020. He has conducted pioneering research work in the field of nanomagnetism and magnonics. He has won many awards including being named one of the top 100 young innovators in the world by TR100, an award-winning MIT magazine on technology. In 2013 he was selected Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer. Adekunle is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Fellow of the Institute of Nanotechnology.
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