The University of Warwick announced today, Tuesday 10 September 2019, that it has appointed Dr Diana Beech to the role of Head of Government Affairs at Warwick.

Diana has been a policy adviser to the last three Ministers of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. Prior to this she was the first Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and she has published widely on several aspects of UK higher education policy. Diana has a PhD in German from the University of Cambridge and has held academic positions at universities in Canada, Germany and the UK.

Diana said:

"I am delighted to be joining the University of Warwick as Head of Government Affairs at this pivotal time in British political history. It has been a real pleasure serving the past three Universities Ministers as Policy Adviser for higher education, and I hope to draw on this experience to maximise the influence of this world-leading university among politicians and policymakers.”

Warwick’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart Croft warmly welcomed Diana to Warwick saying:

“All of us individually, and every institution in our country, are finding the pace of political change and continuing uncertainty in UK policy and governance deeply challenging. I am delighted to have such a talented and experienced higher education policy expert as Diana joining the Warwick community to help and advise us in these febrile times.”

Diana will join the Strategy Group while Dr Rachel Hayward is on secondment at the Department for Exiting the European Union.