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Council

The Council of trustees is responsible to it for the strategic direction and governance of the Institute. It is appointed by the Tavistock Association in an annual meeting.

The Council meets six times a year and is chaired by David Hollywood. Council has two sub-committees: an Audit Committee and a Finance and General Purposes Committee.

The Council works closely with the Institute's CEO, Eliat Aram, and the Institute's Management Team.

The members of Council are:

David Hollywood CA

David chairs the Institute's Council having previously been Honorary Treasurer for some years. A chartered accountant by training, he is an experienced international businessman having worked in continental Europe and North America as well as UK.

David has held senior executive positions in KPMG, Wilkinson Match Ltd., Raychem Corporation, Brammer plc and until September 2010, was non executive Chairman of Lavendon Group plc. He is currently Group Finance Director of Livingston Group plc. David has been a trustee of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations since 2006.

Eliat Aram, PhD, Cpsych, CSci

Eliat is an ex officio member of the Institute's Council as well as being the Chief Executive of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations.

Read more about Eliat here.

Dr Julie Bull

Educated at the University of Sussex and the University of York, Julie gained a doctorate in Social Policy in 1998. Having worked as a research fellow at the Universities of York and London Institute of Education, she then joined the Health Development Agency as a Research Specialist where she lead a programme of work on Health Inequalities where she both commissioned research and led evidence reviews of effectiveness. Since joining the Social Exclusion Unit in 2002, Julie has worked as a senior policy advisor in a variety of government positions including posts in the strategy team at department for Communities and Local Government, and more recently leading work on cultural education for the Department of Culture Media and Sport.

Julie's interests lie in the application of social research and theory to the policy making process and in the development of policy on children and young people. She has published a range of research and policy review documents. She became a Board member for the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in 2010.

Sir Rodney Brooke CBE DL

Sir Rodney Brooke CBE DL is the Chair of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. He is also a director of the Internet Watch Foundation, the National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care and a Board member of Capacitybuilders, Chair of the Dolphin Square Trust, Vice Chair of the Dolphin Square Charitable Foundation and a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London.

Sir Rodney was the first permanent chair of the General Social Care Council after holding chief executive jobs with West Yorkshire County Council, Westminster City Council and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities. He is a former member of the General Medical Council and the Community Development Foundation. He chaired the 2007 Commission on Governance in the Third Sector. He was appointed CBE in 1996 and knighted in 2007. He became a trustee of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in 2006.

Sue Merchant BSc, MSc

Sue spent most of her career to date as an OR analyst with the MoD and the Metropolitan Police. She held several senior posts in the Metropolitan Police Service and was Director of Consultancy and Information Services for ten years. Sue has been an independent management consultant since 2003 and was President of the Operational Research Society from 2008-9. She is still involved with the Society, arranging events for its Criminal Justice Special Interest group and exploring ways in which OR might assist third sector organisations.

Sue is also a churchwarden and temporary organist/choirmistress in her parish in Hertfordshire. She has been a trustee of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations since 2006 and is currently chair of its Audit Committee.

Andrew Neal AFC, FRAeS

Air Commodore Andrew Neal AFC FRAeS served in the RAF for over 30 years. His operational flying tours on Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft included command of No 120 Squadron and the air base at Kinloss in Scotland. In 1990, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, he commanded the Nimrod deployment to Oman and was awarded the Air Force Cross in the Operational Honours List at the end of the First Gulf War. His staff appointments included instructing at the Staff College and commanding the RAF's airborne Search and Rescue Force and Mountain Rescue Teams. His final tour focused on human resource management with responsibility for the career management, including selection for promotion and senior appointment, of officers and airmen aircrew.

In 2001 Andrew joined Ultra Electronics, a group of businesses in the aerospace and defence sector. Appointments included Director of a business specialising in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems, and Director and General Manager of a company specialising in aircraft test solutions, immediately following its acquisition by the group. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and is now the owner director of a small consultancy but retains the role of Senior Air Advisor within Ultra Electronics. He is also a member of the Development Group of the RAF Benevolent Fund.

Liz Nelson OBE

Liz founded TNS plc, which became the world's second largest market research company. She spent 14 years in public service and later became the Director Chronic Granulomatous Disorder Research Trust (a medical research charity funding gene therapy for rare genetic disorders).

She is currently the Executive Chairman of Fly Research Ltd. which includes the first mobile phone market research facilities in the UK  researching via 3000 panel members aged 11-35 attitudes and behaviour on health, technology and other issues.

Riccardo Peccei DPhil, BA

Riccardo Peccei was born in Turin, Italy. He has a B.A. in history from Harvard University and a B.Phil. and D.Phil. in sociology from Oxford University. As part of his academic career he worked as a researcher in the Industrial Sociology Unit at Imperial College, was a part-time Senior Research Officer at the Tavistock Institute in the early 1980s, and a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics, where he also taught for nearly twenty years.

In 2000 he joined the Department of Management at King's College London where he is now Professor of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Organisational Behaviour (OB). He has been involved in a range of international research projects and has held a number of academic appointments outside of the UK. He is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. He has published widely in the fields of HRM and OB and his current research interests are in the areas of work and well-being, HRM and performance, and employee participation and involvement at work.

Roger Sykes MSc, BA (Hons)

Roger Sykes began his working life 1986 working for Oxfordshire Health Authority in a research unit looking at equipment for disabled people. In 1988 he joined the charity Anchor Trust who provide housing and care services for older people. He spent 10 years there managing their Research & Information Unit. In 1998 he joined the Local Government Association as Head of Research managing a programme of research. In June 2005, he joined the Audit Commission as Head of Studies in the Policy, Research and Studies Directorate responsible for managing a programme of national studies. He was a Board member of Charities Evaluation Services between 2001 and 2007.

Roger became a Board member for the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in 2007. He is also a member of the Market Research Society, Social Research Association, and a Trustee and Council Member for LARIA (Local Authority Research and Intelligence Association).