Countryside and Community Research Institute

CCRI Board of Directors and Management Board

Board of Directors

Chair: Sir Donald Curry KB, CBE, FRAgS, Advisor to Government on Sustainable Farming and Food Policy. He chaired the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, which reported to the Government in January 2002. The report Farming and food, a sustainable future was widely endorsed by both Government and stakeholders and is regarded as providing an important new vision for the farming and food industry. He is Chairman of the NFU Mutual Insurance Company having been appointed a non-executive director in 1998, Deputy Chairman in June 2000 and Chairman in June 2003. In 2009 he was appointed Chair of Leckford Estate Management Committee (the Waitrose Farm) and advisor to Mark Price, CEO Waitrose. He was a Crown Estate Commissioner from 2000 to 2007.

He was first appointed an MLC Commissioner in October 1986 and chaired the Commission from September 1993 until April 2001. He was a founder and is Chair of At home in the community, a charity providing care in the North East for people with learning disabilities. He was awarded a CBE for services to Agriculture in the 1997 New Year’s Honours list and a Knighthood in the Birthday Honours in 2001.

In December 2000 he was the first recipient of The Royal Smithfield Club’s Bicentenary Trophy awarded for his major contribution to the British meat industry and in June 2004 he was awarded The Royal Agricultural Society’s National Agricultural Award. In 2004 he was also awarded an honorary degree (BSc) by Cranfield University and in 2005 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Gloucestershire. In 2008 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law by Newcastle University. Married with three children, he farms 250 hectares in Northumberland comprising arable and lowland grass.

Professor Colin Dennis, CBE, DL, BSc, PhD, CSci, FIFST, FIFT, FRSA, FIAFoST has recently retired from being Director-General of Campden BRI, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire. Prior to moving to Chipping Campden in 1981, he worked for 11 years at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, including a period of secondment at the Norwegian Food Research Institute near Oslo. He has a total of 39 years experience in food research, 28 years of senior management experience and 21 years as Director-General of an industry focused Research and Technology Organisation providing multidisciplinary scientific and technical support to large, medium and small companies as well as government clients.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, the Institute of Food Technologists and the International Academy of Food Science and Technology and has recently served as Chairman of the Scientific Council of the International Union of Food Science and Technology. He is also a Non-Executive Director of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, Visiting Professor and Governor at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Board Member of the National Skills Academy International Food Information Service and is Chairman of Modular Training and Industry Interchange Programme Committees of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Colin was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the agri-food industry in the New Year Honours List 2009.

Judy Ling Wong CBE. FRSA. HonFCIWEM. HonPhD is the UK Director of Black Environment Network, with an international reputation as the pioneer in the field of ethnic participation in the built and natural environment. Judy lives in Llanberis, a village set against the dramatic landscape of Snowdonia in Wales. BEN works across diverse sectors in the context of sustainable development, integrating social, cultural and environmental concerns. Judy is a major voice on policy towards social inclusion. Her contribution has included membership of the DCMS Historic Environment Executive Committee, ODPM Urban Green Spaces Task Force, National Trust Council for England and Wales, Welsh Assembly Government Environmental Strategy Reference Group, Scottish Museums Council, National Access and Learning Steering Group, and the IUCN/WCPA Task Force for Cities and Protected Areas. The groundbreaking methodology developed by BEN to engage urban-based ethnic minorities has influenced mainstream work with the full range of disadvantaged social groups as a result of shared issues and contexts. BEN’s most recent pioneering work is the development of methodology to engage ethnic minorities in the countryside with the environmental and heritage sectors, opening up access to enjoyment, volunteering and employment. Judy was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1997 in recognition of her contribution to contemporary environmental thinking. She was awarded an OBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2000 in recognition of her pioneering work in establishing ethnic environmental participation. In 2003, she was made an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institution for Water and Environmental Management. In 2005, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Gloucestershire. She received a CBE in the Birthday Honours 2007 for services to heritage.