College Development Network (CDN) is delighted to announce that Professor Ken Thomson OBE, recently retired Principal and Chief Executive of Forth Valley College, will take up post as Interim Chair of the Board today, Friday 1 September, for an initial six month period.
CDN’s outgoing Chair of the Board, Paul Houlden, completed his term of office on Thursday 31 August. The Board and team at CDN extend their heartfelt thanks to Paul for his years of dedicated commitment to the role and to the organisation.
Ken was appointed to the Board of CDN in September 2022. He became Principal and Chief Executive of Forth Valley College in 2013 having previously held posts of Depute Principal, Director of Learning and prior to that, Head of Science. Up until his retirement Ken was a member of the Scottish Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Board as the Scottish Colleges representative and was also a member of the Independent Review Group for the recent Hayward Review on Qualifications and Assessment. He is a Board member of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, Chairs the SQA Qualifications Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee.
Ken has been a Board member of HES and on the Board of Trustees for Jisc, both roles held from 2014 to January 2021. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and was awarded Regional IoD Director of the Year in 2020. In 2021 he was delighted to receive a special IoD honorary award for Leadership in Learning in recognition of his work in the education, learning and skills sector. In 2019 Ken was awarded the OBE for services to education, economic development and the communities of the Forth Valley area.
Ken said:
“I am delighted to take on this role as CDN’s Interim Chair. As a former college principal I know first-hand the great work that CDN does.
“Since becoming a CDN Board member I have been impressed to witness the range of work and impact that this small team achieves across the college sector. With change ahead for the Scottish education system, I look forward to working with them and helping them and our Board Members to ensure the college sector continues to be at the forefront of education, learning and skills development for a strong Scottish economy and for the people of Scotland.”
