Members of the Board of Trustees are elected at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and, subject to re-election or early retirement, serve for a three-year term. If there is a vacancy on the Board during the year, the Board itself can appoint someone to fill that vacancy until the AGM.
Our Board meets regularly during the year to consider, determine and review Macmillan's strategies and policies, and to receive reports from senior managers. The Board has delegated some of its powers and responsibilities to three committees of the Board: the Finance and Legal Committee, the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee.
The majority of Macmillan's Trustees have had personal encounters with cancer, either because they have been diagnosed themselves or through experiences of people very close to them.
The current members of the Board of Trustees are:
Jamie Dundas (Chair)
Joe MacHale (Treasurer)
Tara Donnelly
Dr Derek Douglas
Dr David Evered
Sue Kirk
Ken Lacey
Judith Lancaster
Julia Palca
Sir Joseph Pilling
Simon Prior-Palmer
Prof Amanda J Ramirez
Dr Maurice Slevin
Dr Gareth Tuckwell
Jamie Dundas (Chair)
Jamie was elected Chairman of Macmillan Cancer Support at the AGM in 2001. He also sits on the Audit Committee and the Finance and Legal Committee. He was Treasurer of the charity in 1991-92 when he left the UK to work overseas. Returning to England he was again elected to the Board in 1997. Jamie was educated at New College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar before beginning a career in banking in 1972. In 1992 he became Finance Director of the Airport Authority in Hong Kong. Back in London he became Finance Director of MEPC plc in 1997, and two years later became Chief Executive until he stepped down in 2003. He is a non-executive director of Standard Chartered plc and Drax Group plc and Chairman of Jupiter Investment Management Holdings Ltd. Jamie is married with three children and lives in London.
Joe MacHale (Treasurer)
Joe joined the Board in 2002 and in December of that year became Treasurer. He is also Chairman of the Finance and Legal Committee and sits on the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The Queens College, Oxford, graduating in 1973. He then qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse & Co in London. In 1979 he joined JP Morgan, where he held senior positions in New York as well as London. His last position with JP Morgan, from 1997 to 2001, was as Chief Executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in London. His main commitments at present, in addition to Macmillan, are as Non-executive Director of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Senior Independent Director at Morgan Crucible plc, Non-executive Director of Brit Insurance Holdings plc and Chairman of Prytania Holdings LLP. Married with four children, Joe lives in Wonston, Hampshire.
Tara Donnelly
Tara was appointed to Macmillan's Board in 2005. Tara is Chief Executive at West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust in West London. Prior to reading English at King's College London, she spent an enjoyable year working as housekeeper on a busy cardiac ward. This experience sparked her interest in health service management and she joined the NHS on graduation in 1992. She has spent her career to date in acute hospital management, including six years as Director of Operations at the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, North London. She has a particular interest in the improvement of cancer care and has been lead director/manager for cancer for the past decade. Having grown up in Yorkshire and Durham, Tara now lives in Chiswick with her husband and their two children.
Dr Derek Douglas
Derek was appointed to Macmillan's Board in 2006. He is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Adam Smith Limited, a corporate finance company he founded in 1988 which specialises in advising early stage technology companies and sourcing investment for breakthrough technology. Educated at Heriot-Watt and Aberdeen Universities in both science and accountancy, Derek was formerly Chairman of the Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Centres Trust (Maggie's Centres) and was Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2001. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Abertay University, Dundee in 2003. For over ten years Derek held senior posts within various accountancy firms and banks including Coopers and Lybrand, Arthur Young and Barclays. Derek lives in Edinburgh with his beloved and four children, aged 1, 3, 21 and 22. He was awarded a CBE in 2006 for his work with Maggie's Centres.
Dr David Evered
David was appointed to Macmillan's Board in 2005. His career was in academic medicine and research as a consultant physician and clinical academic. David qualified in medicine in 1964, having gained a BSc in 1961. Prior to his recent retirement he held many senior posts, including Director of the Ciba Foundation (now the Novartis Foundation); founding Vice-Chairman of the Association of Medical Research Charities; Deputy Head of the UK Medical Research Council; member of the UK Committee for the Co-ordination of Cancer Research; Chairman of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust; and Special Advisor to the Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of the World Health Organisation). He also has personal experience of using cancer services as a carer. He is married with grown up children and lives in Berkshire.
Sue Kirk
Sue joined Macmillan's Board in 1999 and was appointed to the Remuneration Committee in 2002. Sue is also a Director of Macmillan's two trading companies and a Trustee Member of the National Panel for Volunteer Awards. She has been a member of the Boston Committee for 32 years, initially serving for eight years as Secretary and since as Chairman. In 1983 she was appointed a member of the Council and was awarded the President's Medal in 1998. Sue retired as an Associate General Manager after a career in senior management in the NHS. Along with her work for Macmillan, she is a Director of the Boston and County Club and a member of the Regulatory Board, the Preliminary Committee, the Professional Self Regulation Group and the Quality Assurance and Enhancement Group of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP). Sue lives in Lincolnshire.
Ken Lacey
Ken joined Macmillan's Board in 2007. Until recently, he was the Global Managing Partner for Accenture's Health and Life Sciences business. He spent most of his 28 years with Accenture working with pharmaceuticals, medical products, regulatory and healthcare organisations. His experience includes work with the MHRA, the NHS and various health authorities. Ken lives in Cheshire and is married with two children.
Judith Lancaster
Judith was appointed to Macmillan's Board and Finance and Legal Committee in 2005 and is a Trustee Member of the National Panel for Volunteer Awards. She is the Macmillan County Chairman for Suffolk. She read Economics and Law at New Hall, Cambridge and qualified as a barrister. In 1979 she joined an international merchant bank, where she worked for seven years, based in both London and New York. Since then she has held a number of posts, including Vice Chairman of the Norfolk Mental Healthcare NHS Trust, Vice Chairman of the West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust and Trustee of the St Matthew Housing Association, a special needs housing association. She is a member of the Eastern Rent Assessment Panel, chairing Rent Assessment Committees and Leasehold Valuation Tribunals. Judith lives in Bury St Edmunds with her husband and two children.
Julia Palca
Julia joined the Board in 2001 and is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. She also sits on the Audit Committee and the Finance and Legal Committee. She studied at the University of Durham and is now a partner of Olswang, solicitors specialising in technology, media and telecommunications. She is special adviser to the Prison Reform Trust and has been a member of the Board of the Institute of Employment Studies and of several charities, including Cancerlink which merged with Macmillan in 2001. Julia has herself had cancer. She lives in London and is married with three children.
Sir Joseph Pilling
Joe joined Macmillan's Board in 2005. He was educated at King's College, London and Harvard. He worked in the Home Office, Department of Health and Northern Ireland Office. He was Director General of HM Prison Service in England and Wales, and Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office from 1997 until his retirement in 2005. Joe comes from Lancashire and lives in Oxford and North Yorkshire. He is married with two sons.
Simon Prior-Palmer
Appointed to the Board in 2000, Simon is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Finance and Legal Committee. Simon is a Board Commissioner at Postcomm, the regulator of the mail industry; a Director of Gabriel Resources Limited, a Toronto listed natural resources company and a Director of Burani Designer Holding NV, an Italian retail company. Simon worked at Credit Suisse First Boston (now Credit Suisse) from 1982 to 2005, and JP Morgan from 1973 to 1982. From 1988 to 1998 he was Head of UK Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston. Simon read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Christ Church, Oxford. He has wide corporate and international experience. He is a Fellow of the RSA. Simon is married with four children and lives in London.
Professor Amanda J Ramirez MB BSc MD FRCPsych
A former Trustee of Cancerbackup, Amanda was appointed to the Board of Macmillan Cancer Support in 2008. She qualified as doctor in 1982 and went on to train as a psychiatrist, specialising in liaison psychiatry. Her work has focused on the mental health of patients with physical illness and doctors. In 1997 she was appointed Professor of Liaison Psychiatry at King's College London. She leads a research programme within the Institute of Psychiatry, funded by Cancer Research UK, examining psychological and social aspects of cancer. Her research focuses on two main issues: examining ways of promoting early presentation with symptoms of cancer and ways of improving the working lives of health professionals. She also co-leads the NCRI COMPASS Research Collaborative which undertakes research to develop and evaluate effective ways of identifying, assessing and managing patients' supportive and palliative care needs. As part of her NHS commitment she is the National Clinical Lead for Supportive Cancer Care. In particular she leads on the national work to improve the delivery of patient information and co-leads the National Advanced Communication Skills Training Programme for Cancer.
Dr Maurice Slevin MD FRCP
Maurice co-founded Cancerbackup with Vicky Clement Jones in 1985 and was Chairman and trustee from 1987 until Cancerbackup's merger with Macmillan in 2008, when he was appointed to Macmillan's Board. He graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and worked for four years at the world-famous Groote Schuur Hospital before coming to the UK, practising for almost 30 years at London's St Bartholomew's Hospital. He is a founder partner of The London Oncology Clinic and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist at Barts and The London NHS Trust. He has been either Chair or member of nine medical research committees, including the Medical Research Council 'Cell Board'. He is the author or co-author of almost 200 papers in medical journals and has written two books and edited three others. He has also sat on five editorial boards and contributed 17 chapters in medical textbooks. In 2003 he produced a pamphlet 'Resuscitating the NHS' for the Centre for Policy Studies.
Dr Gareth Tuckwell
Gareth was appointed to the Board in 2003. He is currently Chief Executive of Burrswood Hospital, Kent, having been Clinical Director of Hospice in the Weald from 2004 to 2007 and a Regional Director of Macmillan from 2000 to 2003. Gareth qualified in Medicine in 1971 and obtained a Diploma in Palliative Medicine from the University of Wales in 1992. He was Medical Director of Burrswood Hospital from 1986 to 1999 and is a Vice-President of the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, Farnham. He is Chair of Hospice23, a charity that provides support and education to those working in palliative care. He is married with four children and lives in Tunbridge Wells.