Graham Upton

Graham Upton DL (born 30 April 1944) has been Chair of the Board of Experience Oxfordshire since July, 2013.[1]

Born in Birmingham, he moved to, and was educated in, Australia, where he taught in secondary and special schools before moving back to the UK in 1972. He worked in the University of Wales and Leeds Polytechnic before moving to the University of Birmingham where he was Pro-vice-chancellor and Professor of Special Educational Needs and Educational Psychology.

In September 1997, he accepted the post of Vice-Chancellor at Oxford Brookes University, until he retired in August 2007 when he was succeeded by Professor Janet Beer.

From 21 May 2010 until July 2011, Professor Upton was the interim acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cumbria.[2] Professor Upton also served as interim Vice-Chancellor for Glyndŵr University in January 2015[3] until the appointment of Professor Maria Hinfelaar in April 2016.[4]

In June 2013, he was appointed High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, having been Undersheriff the year before.[5][6] He is married to Bebe Speed, an ex-director of West Midlands Institute of Psychotherapy. They have four children and five grandchildren.[7]

In January 2019, Graham Upton was appointed as the interim Vice-Chancellor of Bangor University until a permanent successor is found. This is due to the early retirement of former Vice-Chancellor John G. Hughes.

The role of Vice-Chancellor was eventually taken over by Iwan Davies in September 2019.