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Trustees
Mr. Geoffrey Maddrell, Chairman
I have an industry and public service background. After service in the Parachute Regiment, and a law degree and MBA at Cambridge and Columbia Universities, I spent my early career overseas with Shell and Bowater, before becoming Chief Executive of Tootal Group at a time of significant change.
I have subsequently been Chairman of businesses usually undergoing strategic change, including Glenmorangie, Westbury, LDV and UNITE Group. I had two periods as a Civil Service Commissioner and set up three charities in addition to Research Autism.
My interest in making Research Autism a huge success is to achieve our vision of a world where those on the spectrum are able to realize their potential, feel a sense of contribution and enjoy, with their families, a better quality of life, all through research into interventions which is woefully lacking.
Sir Norman Adsetts OBE MA
Born in 1931, I left Sheffield in 1950 for National Service in the RAF, followed by a degree in Philosophy Politics and Economics at The Queen’s College Oxford.
In 1966, after ten years in marketing and product development with Fibreglass, I joined my father in the Sheffield Insulating Company. I became Managing Director in 1970, Chairman in 1985, and the company went public in 1989.
In 1996 I became Life President, after thirty years in which this family business, now renamed SIG plc, had become a multi-national company distributing insulation across Europe and America. I was awarded the OBE in 1988 for ‘services to energy efficiency’.
I have sought to bring public and private sectors together as partners in the social and economic regeneration of Sheffield; whether as Deputy Chairman of the Sheffield Development Corporation; Chairman of Governors of Sheffield Hallam University; or as Chairman of the Crucible Lyceum and Studio complex which makes up Sheffield Theatres. I was knighted in 1999 for ‘services to the community in Sheffield’
Married for fifty years, with two children and eight grandchildren, Eve and I have two autistic grandsons, both in their early teens. Pursuing this special interest I am Patron of NORSACA which runs the specialist schools in Nottingham attended by my grandsons; sponsor of the Autism Centre in Sheffield Hallam University; and now a trustee of Research Autism.
Sir William Samuel Atkinson MA FRSA
I have been headteacher of Phoenix High School, Hammersmith and Fulham since April 1995, having previously held headships at Cranford Community School, Hounslow and Copland Community School, Brent.
I have been involved in a wide range of organisations and groups including: 1997-2001 Member of the DfEE Standards Task Force; 1997-1999 Home Office Youth Justice Task Force chaired by Lord Warner; 2002 Appointed a Council Member for the Royal Society of Arts (RSA); 2003 Member of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) Advisory Panel on Children’s Viewing and 2003-2005 Home Office London Youth Crime Reduction Task Force as the Education Champion.
My media appearances include: Newsnight, Panorama, Any Questions, You and Yours, Today, Radio 5 Live, Question Time and Channel 4’‘s The Unteachables.,
In 1998 I was appointed national judge for the Teaching Awards and in 2003 endorsed as chair of The Teaching Awards Panel for London, in 2006 I was appointed Deputy Chair of the National Teaching Awards Judging Panel.
My involvement with Research Autism follows an invitation to join the panel from the Chair, Geoffrey Madrell.
Mr Simon Bellars, Honorary Treasurer.
Simon is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
He is also the treasurer for Research Autism.
He has a personal interest in autism issues.
Professor Chris Cullen
Professor of Clinical Psychology at Keele University, and Clinical Director for Psychological Services in North Staffordshire.
I have been a Fellow of the British Psychological Society since 1983, and I am a past President of both the British Psychological Society and the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies.
My research interests are broadly in the field of applied behaviour analysis, although I have also carried out research in staff training, sexual abuse, and deinstitutionalisation. My clinical work is influenced by the idea of acceptance, best illustrated by the old prayer “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference”.
I believe that it is essential to explore and promote evidence based approaches to improving the quality of life of families and people on the spectrum.
Professor John Dickinson, BA, MA (Cantab), PhD (Leeds), FCIS, CPA
I have been a National and Regional Councillor of the National Autistic Society for the last eight years, and on its Board for the last five. Since 2004 I have represented the NAS as a member of the Executive Committee of Autism Europe and am that organisation’s Secretary General.
My wife and I live in Lancaster, and our adult daughter- who has Asperger’s Syndrome – lives with us. We have been closely involved with a local support group which I chaired until recently. I was also foundation chair of a group drawing on professional staff from Social Services and Health to develop a long-term strategy in terms of local services for those on the autistic spectrum, and am involved with a further group of professionals formed to focus on the furtherance of practical research locally and regionally into support for those affected by an ASD.
As a career academic with extensive experience in research and teaching I was Principal and Chief Executive of what is now the University of Winchester, and was a trustee of the Hampshire Autistic Society, the Winchester Alliance for Mental Health, and the Winchester Carers’ Association. I have also served as a trustee or director of several national organisations.
Professor Patricia Howlin, St Georges Hospital, London
Professor of Clinical Psychology, Dept of Community Health Sciences, St. George’s London University.
I am a chartered clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. in Psychology and have been a Fellow of the British Psychological Society since 1989. Currently I am the Chairperson both of the UK Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Psychology and Psychiatry and the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes.
I was one of the founders of and am joint editor of the journal Autism. My principal research interests focus on autism and related disorders and I have conducted research on many different intervention programmes, including comparative studies of home and school based treatments; control trials of communication training programmes; longer term studies of the impact of early interventions, and the effectiveness of specialist employment schemes for adults.
I have also been involved in research on the transition to adulthood by people with autism. I have worked closely with the National Autistic Society for many years, and am dedicated to improving the lives of people with autism spectrum disorders and those who care for or work with them.
As a trustee of Research Autism my aim is to help improve the quality of autism intervention research and to increase funding opportunities for those working in this essential area.
Ms Jacqui Jackson
Doctoral Research Student, Coventry University.
As a parent of 7 children, 5 with a range of differences including autism, Asperger syndrome, ADHD, dyspraxia and dyslexia, I am acutely aware of the need for ongoing research, not only into the causes of these conditions, but also into interventions that can make a real difference to the lives of people with an ASD and their families.
I have a 1st Class (hons) degree in social policy and subsequent postgraduate qualifications in special educational needs. I am now nearing the end of a PhD, researching into sensory differences and design for children with an ASD.
I am a consultant for the Centre for the Development of Autism Practice (CDAP) where along with others I provide workshops and training on a variety of issues surrounding ASD, my particularly area of specialty being sensory differences.
I wrote ‘Multicoloured Mayhem’ – a parents’ guide to the many differences experienced in our household. The publicity surrounding this inspired the BBC to make a documentary about us (My Family and Autism) and subsequently a drama (Magnificent 7).
I work closely with the National Autistic Society, to raise awareness and advocate for changes both in service and policy for children and adults with an ASD and their families.
Professor Eve Johnstone
Professor of Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh
I have been involved in psychiatric research, principally, although not exclusively, concerning schizophrenia for 30 years. I am author of more than 200 research publications in high quality journals plus many chapters and reviews and have published eight books.
From 1974 until 1989 I was directly employed by the MRC as a clinical scientist (from 1976 at consultant level) at the Clinical Research Centre at Northwick Park and there conducted the first ever CT study of the brain in schizophrenia (findings since replicated more than 100 times) and the first demonstration in psychotic patients that the mechanism by which antipsychotic drugs exert their effect is dopaminergic blockade. In addition, I conducted studies of, in total, more than 2000 individuals establishing the nature and determinants of the disabilities of schizophrenic patients.
Following my appointment in Edinburgh in 1989, I have established a research programme covering patients from throughout Scotland and have acquired funding largely from Research Council and charitable sources to a total of more than £12M, and including three MRC Programme Grants. The cornerstone of this work is the Edinburgh High Risk Study of c.200 young people at enhanced risk of schizophrenia since they have two affected relatives. It is proving very successful.
I have been extensively involved in committee work for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Scottish Executive, the Kings Fund and other bodies, but principally the MRC where I have been a member of the Neurosciences Board, Chairman of the Project Grants Committee, Chairman of the Neurosciences Board (1999-2002) and Council Member 1996-2002. I served as Chairman of the Advisory Group on Ethical and Operational Guidelines for Tissue Collections, Chairman of the Advisory Group on Fetal Pain and Chairman of the Advisory Group on Autism.
Mr Kamran Nazeer
I was born of itinerant Pakistani parents and have lived in New York, Jeddah, Islamabad and Glasgow.
I studied law but decided not to become a lawyer. By the time I completed my Ph.D. thesis, I had decided not to become an academic. On leaving Cambridge, I was recruited into Her Majesty’s Service and now work as a policy adviser in Whitehall. I have published work in newspapers and magazine.
Send In the Idiots is my first book and is a portrait of five autistic men and women, and what their struggles and triumphs reveal about us all.
Dr. Lorna Wing, O.B.E.,MD FRCPsych.
The Centre for Social and Communication Disorders; The National Autistic Society
I was a member of the scientific staff of the Medical Research Council’s Social Psychiatry Unit until my retirement in 1990.
My research work concerned autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities.
I am currently part-time psychiatric consultant to the National Autistic Society’s Centre for Social and Communication Disorders.
I had a daughter with typical Kanner’s autism.
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Last Updated : 31/10/2008 Back to Top
