University Board
University Board Members
Professor Phil Deans
President and Vice Chancellor
BA, PhD, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Biography
Before taking up the role of President and Vice Chancellor Phil Deans served as the Provost of Richmond from 2011 to 2019 where he led the successful application for Taught Degree Awarding Powers, and registration with the Office for Students. He oversaw the creation of Richmond’s dual degree award and worked with faculty on revising Richmond’s unique international liberal arts curriculum of four-year undergraduate programmes. He has a BA in Politics and East Asian Studies and a PhD in International Relations from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and spent time as an undergraduate in China (1987-89) and as a graduate research fellow in Japan (1991-93). He was fortunate to have the opportunity learn Chinese and Japanese at university and is keen to make similar international opportunities open to students at Richmond. Before joining Richmond, he was the Chief Academic Officer at the Tokyo Campus of Temple University, Director of the Contemporary China Institute and Associate Dean at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and Lecturer in East Asian Politics at the University of Kent.
Dr Deans is Senior Independent Director and Trustee of the Quality Assurance Agency, Deputy Chair of Independent Higher Education, the UK’s representative body for independent and alternative providers of higher education, Vice President of the Association of American International Colleges and Universities, and Deputy Chair of the Board at Gingerbread, the charity for single parents.
Phil has dedicated his career to furthering international education opportunities for students and promoting diversity and international perspectives on learning, teaching and curriculum development and content. He is a proud single father to three children, and a season ticket holder at Fulham FC.
Professor Kelly Coate
Provost
BSc, Northwestern University, MA, Middlesex University, PhD, University College London
Biography
Professor Kelly Coate joined Richmond as Provost in September 2023. She was previously in the role of Pro Vice Chancellor for Students and Education at the University of Sussex, from 2018-2023.
Her career prior to that time has always been in higher education: from working as a programme administrator at King’s College London in the early 1990s, to undertaking a PhD and conducting further research at the Institute of Education (which is now part of UCL), and then on to the University of Galway in 2007 where she worked in the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. She then returned to the UK and became Director of the King’s Learning Institute at King’s College London, followed by the role of Vice Dean Education in the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy there.
She has been an active researcher of higher education, publishing books, chapters and articles on such topics as the curriculum in higher education, gender and academic careers, and internationalisation. She was on the Governing Council of the Society for Research into Higher Education for 6 years, and serves on the Editorial Boards of the journals Teaching in Higher Education, Higher Education Research and Development, and the Journal of Education Policy. Kelly is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Fellow of the Society for Research in Higher Education.
Vanessa Carreras
Deputy Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations
Biography
Vanessa joined Richmond as Deputy Vice Chancellor in March 2025. In her previous role, she worked as Financial Controller, and later Director of Finance, at Northeastern University – London (formerly New College of the Humanities [NCH]).
In her nearly 8 years at NU, she set up and led all the finance and data governance functions. She built a team from scratch and played a key role in the due diligence work that led to the Northeastern acquisition. Prior to that, she was the Financial Controller for Havering College Further and Higher Education for 5 years.
Dr. Allison Cole-Stutz
Vice President (Pro Vice Chancellor) Student Affairs
BA, Colorado College
MA, University of Texas at Austin
EdD Institute of Education, University College London
Biography
Allison has worked in different facets of international education for over 30 years: first as an English language teacher to children and adults and later as a teacher-trainer in further education in the US. Her interest in student support started at a language school in Denver where she worked to support international students with immigration support and linked them with area host families. After moving to London in 2000, Allison worked briefly teaching English and supporting new immigrants to London and then joined Richmond in 2001 where she has worked for over 20 years in student support and alumni affairs. Allison’s research interests are in student engagement, community development and the service element of liberal arts education.
University Board Attendees
Professor Sabine Spangenberg
Deputy Provost for Faculty
Diplom-Oekonom, University Duisburg-Essen
PhD, Lancaster University
Biography
Sabine is a Professor of Economics and previously served as Head of the Richmond Business School and as Head of Accreditation. After completing her studies in Economics and Business at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany), Sabine moved to the UK to take up a Fellowship position at Lancaster University, where she also completed her PhD in Institutionalised Economic Transformation.
Sabine is particularly interested in welfare economics and continues to engage in research when time allows. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Development and Happiness. Sabine has served as reviewer and assessor for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and as a member of subject benchmark statement review groups (Economics).
Dom Alessio
Vice President of International Programmes
BA, MA, McMaster University
PhD Victoria University of Wellington
Biography
Dom was born in Wales to Irish-Welsh and Italian parents, raised in Canada, and studied in New Zealand after having been awarded a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship. Dom has taught at McMaster University (Canada), St Thomas’s University (Canada), Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), and Trinity St David’s University (Wales). Dom has additionally been a Visiting Professor in the School of Arts at the University of Northampton; at Franklin University (Switzerland); and at Randolph Macon College (USA). Dom has also been a Research Associate for the Centre for Fascist/Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies, Teesside University (UK), and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR). Dom has been invited to give numerous lectures throughout the world and is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a former Vice Chair of the New Zealand Studies Association.
Dom is a postcolonial, political, and cultural historian of imperialism with additional interests in the history of the extreme right. Dom is currently working on an ambitious political history investigating definitions of empire and diverse methods of empire formation. This includes the buying and renting of imperial territory as a means of expansion and the role of non-state actors, such as filibusters, corporate players, and religious organisations, in the imperial process. Dom has also just finished a project examining the relationship between the extreme right and the occult, Heathenism, and Satanism. Entitled Folk, Faith and the Far Right, this work was published by Manchester University Press in 2025 and is available for free here: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179463/
Dom’s interests are hiking, fencing, and canoeing, and in 2018 he made a successful attempt, with his friend and colleague Mark Horne, to obtain a Guinness World Record for canoeing the length of the River Thames in a double canoe
Kelli Wolfe
Academic Registrar
Biography
Kelli Wolfe has worked at Richmond since August 2025. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, she spent 12 years in Silicon Valley (Northern California) before moving to London in 2006. Working in UK higher education since 2008, she’s held roles across various functions within student administration, admissions, quality management and student support in both traditional research-driven universities and smaller, private providers. She has studied at universities in the US, Germany and the UK and holds an MSc in Higher Education Administration, Management and Leadership from Nottingham Trent University.
Maria Pavlocheva
Director of Marketing, Recruitment and Communications
Biography
Maria’s professional experience spans leadership roles in higher education, membership organisations and leading global marketing agencies.
Most recently, Maria led student recruitment marketing and communications at Queen Mary University of London and member acquisition marketing at the Royal Society of Medicine.
Prior to that, Maria served as the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Graduate School of Business at HSE University, one of the preeminent economics and social sciences universities in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, where she established and developed the marketing and communications department.
Maria holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication from Moscow State Linguistic University, a Master’s degree in Psychology, and has completed executive education programs at INSEAD and London Business School. She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
In addition, Maria is also a certified coach with a strong passion for supporting individuals, teams, and organizations in reaching their full potential.
Outside of work, Maria enjoys art, theatre, history and literature.
Pragya Rai
Head of Planning, Research and Institutional Assessment
Biography
Pragya completed her undergraduate studies in Sociology at the University of Birmingham. Pragya joined RAUL in 2017 as the Examinations Officer and has since worked in various positions within the Registry Services department, and the Quality Assurance department. Pragya also received an MA in International Relations from RAUL in 2020 and is currently a PhD candidate in the School of International Relations, Politics and History at Loughborough University.
Jaz Crocker MCIPD
Head of Human Resources
BA Hons, University of Hull
MSc, Birkbeck College, University of London
Biography
Jaz Crocker is Head of Human Resources at Richmond. With over a decade of experience across UK higher education and related sectors, Jaz brings a people-first, values-led approach to HR leadership, focused on building inclusive, engaged, and high-performing communities.
Jaz leads the University’s HR function, overseeing workforce planning, employee relations, organisational change, and policy development, and is a member of the Operations Committee, advising senior leaders on people strategy and governance. Previously, she established the HR function at TEDI-London during a period of rapid growth and award-winning wellbeing work. Jaz also serves on Independent Higher Education’s Finance and Resources Committee and is a trustee of two West London charities.
Secretary to the Board
Helga Dias Dos Santos
Executive Secretary to the President and Vice Chancellor
Biography
Helga has worked at Richmond since August 2025. Born in Portugal and of Angolan descent, she lived in Italy before settling in the UK with her family at the age of 12, where she completed her education. This international journey and cross-cultural experiences have shaped her inclusive approach to work and life.
Her professional experience spans customer service management, systems improvement, and executive support to senior leaders across local authorities and higher education institutions. Prior to joining Richmond, Helga worked as an Executive Assistant to the Dean of Education and Outcomes at St Mary’s University, where she also completed an apprenticeship in Operational Management and developed a particular interest in project and governance management.
Outside of her professional role, Helga enjoys travelling and discovering different cultures, which she considers essential “food for the soul.”
