HIE board member profiles

William Roe, chair

Willy Roe has been Chair of Highlands and Islands Enterprise since September 2004. He also chairs the board of the new government agency, Skills Development Scotland; and is Scotland Commissioner on the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.  He is a member of the Innovation Programmes Committee of NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.

Mr Roe is Chair of Rocket Science UK Ltd, a company that provides consulting services and solutions for national and local government in economic development, lifelong learning, welfare to work, regeneration and innovative financial partnerships to support sustainable growth.  He has advised many government departments and public agencies in Scotland and England and financial services and technology companies both in the UK and North America. 

His international experience includes: Former director of first EU programme to combat long-term unemployment – ERGO;  former adviser to government of Bulgaria on development of civil society.  Former adviser to government of Poland on labour market reforms.  Former adviser on local enterprise development in Atlantic Canada.  Adviser and facilitator to Futures Ireland programme for the government of Ireland.  Board member, Training and Development Corporation, Maine, USA.

Sandy Cumming CBE, chief executive

Drew Ratter

Professor Mary Bownes

Professor Mary Bownes joined the Board in April 2008.  She is Vice Principal and Professor of Developmental Biology at the University of Edinburgh with strategic responsibility for post graduate students, widening participation and recruitment of undergraduate students and community relations. She was previously Head of the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh and has undertaken research in Germany and California. She is a member of the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute Research Committee, a member of the Scottish Funding Council Skills Committee and has, until recently been Chair of the Studentships and Fellowships Panel, and a member of the Strategy Board for the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). 

Angus Mackenzie

Angus Mackenzie is a Chartered Accountant and previously a partner in Ernst & Young. He has experience in establishing and running small businesses as Joint Managing Director of Spoff (Scotland) Ltd, a company manufacturing premium quality muesli, as well as having helped set up and run Brin Herb Nursery with his wife.

Professor Lorne Crerar

Professor Lorne Crerar LLB (Hons) NP joined the Board in April 2008.  He is a founding partner and Chairman of leading Scottish commercial law firm Harper Macleod LLP, which has offices in Glasgow, Edinbugh and Inverness. He has held the part-time Chair of Banking Law at Glasgow University since 1997. Lorne has broad experience of public sector operations. He was formerly Deputy Chairman of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and one of three Chairmen of the Housing Improvement Task Force with his group completing their work in 2002. He sits on the appointed implementation team for the single survey process, one of his task force proposals. He was appointed as Convener of the Standards Commission in June 2003 (under the Ethical Standards in Public Life (Scotland Act 2000). Lorne resigned from this office in September 2006 to take up the Chair of the ‘Independent Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling  of Public Services in Scotland’ which reported in September 2007. Lorne is a non-Executive Director of the Scottish Government Justice Programme Board, and resides in Glasgow and Gairloch, Wester Ross.  

James Royan

James Royan joined the Board in April 2008.  He operates Scotland’s oldest family butchers business in Elgin. He was a Commissioner in the Meat and Livestock Commission from 1978-95 and for the last fourteen years has fulfilled leadership roles in the NHS in Scotland including that of Chair of NHS Grampian from 2001- 2007. Jim has extensive experience in the private and public sectors and is currently a Governor of the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and has recently been appointed to the board of Quality Meat Scotland.

George Campbell

Last updated April 2008.

The HIE board members' register of interests can be viewed and downloaded from 'related documents' (right).