Faculty
Meet Your Chairs
Christine Fairchild
Christine Fairchild was appointed Oxford University’s new Director of Alumni Relations in March 2011. She retired from this post in August 2023.
She and her team were responsible for supporting links between alumni of the collegiate University and Oxford through a dynamic offering of events, benefits, services and communications vehicles. The University has 350,000+ known alumni in 188 countries. There is an extensive alumni network made up of 180 active branches and shared interest groups.
Before arriving in Oxford, she had 20 years of experience in alumni relations at the Harvard Business School (HBS), including most recently as Executive Director of External Relations, overseeing the School’s alumni outreach and fundraising activities.
Educated at Connecticut College in the US, Christine graduated with a BA in Asian Studies. Upon graduation, she joined the Harvard Art Museums, where she spent ten years in membership, development, special events and public education activities. She has volunteered for Hospice of Cambridge, Mount Auburn Hospital, Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic, Learning by Design, Concord Academy and Connecticut College. She has been a member of the CERN Alumni Advisory Board and currently sits on the Malvern College Council and is a Trustee of the Malvernian Society. She is an Emeritus Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford, a CASE Laureate and the recipient of a CASE Crystal Apple Award.
David Williams
David Williams has led alumni relations and other advancement functions for Durham University, University College Cork and the University of St Andrews. A former broadsheet journalist, his areas of interest include fundraising campaigns, graduate employability, the global postgraduate and business-education markets, and articulating and disseminating research.
Faculty
Mehrnoosh Rayner
Mehrnoosh Rayner is Head of Alumni Relations at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) - an intergovernmental life science institute located across six sites in Europe and supported by more than 27 countries including the UK.
She has developed and grown EMBL Alumni Relations in the last 19 years from a project to a programme that plays a central, strategic role in the delivery of EMBL’s mission to support life sciences in Europe and beyond. She has also helped newer life science institutes establish their own Alumni Relations programmes - an area she is eager to grow.
Mehrnoosh has worked in higher education for over 25 years, managing stakeholder relations, building programmes and overseeing conferences, events, publications and data.
Prior to joining EMBL, Mehrnoosh worked at the University of Edinburgh, where she graduated with an MA Honours degree and was later awarded a PhD.
Mehrnoosh is a member of CASE Europe Council.
Aba Quartey
Aba Quartey joined the Chevening Secretariat in June 2014. She leads a small team in London which covers the global aspects of the Chevening alumni programme, and which simultaneously supports local activities carried out in over 150 countries
Chevening is the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s flagship international awards programme. The Association of Commonwealth Universities, through the Chevening Secretariat, has administered the programme on behalf of the FCO since 2012. Chevening awardees are selected for their capacity to be future leaders and influencers.
Aba’s role has been to create a centralised alumni offering for Chevening, while supporting the local alumni engagement activities of colleagues overseas through new processes and systems.
Prior to Chevening, Aba worked at international development charity VSO in the Alumni and Resettlement team as the main contact for VSO's alumni, developing a career in the voluntary sector after a first career in private practice law.
Molly Southwood
Molly Southwood has over fifteen years' experience in the sector. Since 2009 she has headed the engagement team at the University of Bath, with a remit which currently includes communications, events, volunteering, regular giving, and development services.
In 2015 she oversaw the successful re-launch of the ‘Bath Connection' e-networking platform and also leads on the University's Gold Scholarship Alumni Mentor Programme. Her team delivers around 90 events each year and manages a network of around 4,000 volunteers, in the UK and around the world.
Molly received a BA from Skidmore College in the USA and an MA from the University of Warwick. She is a member of the British Council's Alumni Advisory Group.
Anita Irving
Anita’s 19-year career in advancement began at the University of Aberdeen as a student caller. Upon graduating, Anita joined the Development team at Aberdeen during their £150 million Capital Campaign, with responsibility for the regular giving programme.
In 2010 Anita left her role as Head of Annual Giving and joined the University of Salford as Alumni Relations and Regular Giving Manager, where she was responsible for implementing the alumni relations strategy and moving the telephone campaign in-house.
In January 2014 Anita joined the University of Liverpool as Head of Alumni and Supporter Relations, before being promoted in 2019 to her current role of Associate Director of Alumni Engagement & Regular Giving leading the alumni engagement and regular giving strategy for the University's 222,000 global alumni community.