The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has announced the appointment of five new members to its governing body, the Council. Council members are appointed by the Secretary of State and are responsible for the overall strategic direction of the AHRC including its key objectives and targets, and key decisions about the research direction of the AHRC.

Sir Alan Wilson, Chair of the AHRC, has confirmed that John Denham, the Secretary of State for Universities, Innovation and Skills (DIUS), has appointed renowned Geography scholar, Professor Roger Kain; Linguistics expert, Professor Ellen Douglas-Cowie; Chief Executive of the British Library, Dame Lynne Brindley; NESTA's Richard Halkett, and 'Creative Economy' expert, John Howkins, to the AHRC Council for three years with effect from 1 September 2008.

Sir Alan says: "It is with great pleasure that we welcome our new Council members. They bring deeply impressive academic and media achievements combined with extensive leadership experience and the Council is fortunate in being able to attract such eminent experts as Roger, Ellen, Lynne, Richard and John."

For further press information please contact Emi Spinner, AHRC Communications Officer, e.spinner@ahrc.ac.uk or tel: 0117 987 6770 

Notes to Editors:

The AHRC Council is the governing body responsible for determining the strategy and policy of the AHRC. Members receive an honoraria of £6,740 per annum. Appointments are made in accordance with OCPA Code of Practice. These appointments have been made on the basis of merit. In accordance with Nolan recommendations there is a requirement for appointees' political activity to be made public. The appointees have not been involved in any relevant political activity in the last five years and do not hold any other ministerial appointments.

Arts and Humanities Research Council - Each year the AHRC provides approximately £100 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,000 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.

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Biographical Summary:

Professor Roger Kain has been Montefiore Professor of Geography, University of Exeter since 1991 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer from 2002. He became a Fellow of the British Academy in 1990 and is currently the Academy's Treasurer and a Vice-President, and was appointed CBE in 2005. At Exeter, Roger is responsible for the Schools of Arts, Languages and Literatures, and Humanities and Social Sciences.

Professor Ellen Douglas-Cowie is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Queens University Belfast and Pro-Vice-Chancellor designate. A Linguistics expert, Ellen's range of topics includes spoken English, phonetics and sociolinguistics. Her research focuses on speech analysis including speech deterioration in post-lingual deafness and the identification and recognition of emotion from speech and face. She has written numerous journal articles, co-authored the title, 'Postlingually Acquired Deafness: Speech Deterioration and the Wider Consequences' and co-edited the special edition of Speech Communication on 'Speech and Emotion'.

Dame Lynne Brindley is the first woman to hold the prestigious post of Chief Executive of the British Library, which she's done since July 2000. While in post, Lynne has championed a major strategic overhaul of the British Library ensuring the organisation continues to remain relevant, innovative and accessible in the 21^st century. Prior to her role at the British Library, Lynne was Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Leeds with which she continues to be involved as a visiting Professor speaking and writing on digital society, copyright and IP, knowledge management and innovation. Previously she was a senior consultant with KPMG and has held leadership positions in information technology and knowledge management at Aston University and at the London School of Economics.

Richard Halkett is currently the Executive Director of Policy & Research at NESTA, the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. There, he oversees a research agenda designed to enrich and strengthen innovation policy in the UK. In Autumn 2008, he joins Cisco (Systems) as Director of Strategy and Research in their Global Education Group. Prior to joining NESTA, Richard worked as the Assistant Director of Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. Previously, he worked for Lloyds TSB plc and as Chief Executive of Boxmind, the Oxford-based technology company. From 2003-2005, he was a UK-US Fulbright Scholar at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

John Howkins is an expert in creativity and innovation. His ideas on the subject were published in the book, 'The Creative Economy' in 2001. He is a Visiting Professor at Lincoln University, and Vice Dean and Visiting Professor at the Shanghai School of Creativity, Shanghai Theatre Academy, China. Previously he was Chairman of the Adelphi Charter on Creativity, Innovation and Intellectual Property. His published work includes 'Understanding Television', 'Communications in China', 'New Technologies, New Policies' and 'Four Global Scenarios for Information'. John is also Chairman of BOP Consultants and a Director of HandMade Films plc and HotBed Media Ltd.