S2 Episode 2 - University of Liverpool and Montessori St Nicholas

Dame Janet Beer is vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool, the 138-year old institution with more than 22,000 students on campus that leads the way researching fields such as advanced materials and infectious diseases.


She studied English at Reading and Warwick universities, specialising in late 19th and early 20th century American literature including the novelist Edith Wharton. Initially working at the Inner London Education Authority, she lectured at Roehampton Institute before gravitating to Manchester Metropolitan University where she became pro vice-chancellor and later leading Oxford Brookes University for seven years. Dame Janet is a former president of the sector body Universities UK.


Leonor Stjepic is chief executive of Montessori St Nicholas, the UK charity that oversees the child-centred Montessori teaching movement and counts nearly 700 nurseries and primary schools among its members. MSN also promotes education, provides training and funds development research.


After volunteering in a refugee camp during the war in Croatia, Stjepic’s first senior role in the charity sector was with the National Playing Field Association before moving to the Galapagos Conservation Trust and then leading RAFT, a medical research charity. She also has 15 years of commercial experience, including running her own consultancy for small businesses.

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