23 July, 2021
We are pleased to announce the appointment of John Kirkland, as Interim Executive Director of UKCDR, following the departure of Executive Director Marta Tufet.
We are thrilled that John has agreed to serve in this capacity as we continue implementing our transition plan to find a permanent Executive Director.
John succeeds Marta Tufet, who served as UKCDR’s Executive Director since January 2018. Marta has taken up an amazing new opportunity as Head of Policy at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in Geneva.
During her time as Executive Director, Marta led UKCDR’s bold new vision and strategy, focusing UKCDR’s efforts on producing high quality data and evidence. This foundation enabled UKCDR to adapt and react to a changing landscape and support our members to better coordinate a research response in the face of emerging crises.
John has over thirty years background in international development and research. Senior posts have included Deputy Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, Head of Research Services at Brunel University and two spells as Company Secretary at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. He received his doctorate from Brunel in 1989, and was awarded the rank of Officer of the British Empire (O.B.E) for services to higher education in the Commonwealth in 2015.
His substantial experience in international development and research is highly valued at this pivotal time for international development research and the changing funding landscape. Alongside our members, it is vital to ensure that ODA research funding is spent strategically and coherently to maximise impact.
We have now opened recruitment for the permanent Executive Director role. For more information please click here