Thank you

This note is by HEPI Director, Nick Hillman.

I’m over the moon and completely surprised to have had my work in higher education policy since 2007 recognised through the award of an OBE.

I’ve been very lucky in my career, most notably in having the chance to support a brilliant and evidence-based minister who oversaw higher education and science policy in the early 2010s, followed by (nearly) 12 years leading HEPI, which I continue to think of as the best job – bar none – in UK higher education. I have also had the honour to serve a number of educational institutions as a trustee, which has brought me into contact with numerous brilliant people and taught me a great deal.

As I think about education most of the time, I’m particularly conscious that it is my own education – including the sacrifices my schoolteacher parents made to ensure I and my two sisters all had an excellent schooling and my time at the University of Manchester, the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary and Westfield College (as it then was) – that has allowed me to have such an interesting career to date.

I was only able to take on my current role back in January 2014 thanks to HEPI’s founder and President, Bahram Bekhradnia, who had the foresight to establish the organisation back in 2002, and I never forget that I owe my role to HEPI’s very committed Trustees, including the Chair, Professor Dame Sally Mapstone. In addition, HEPI’s Advisory Board continues to provide wise and supportive counsel on major projects. HEPI’s work is also entirely dependent on those who fund what we do, including 130+ higher education institutions and nearly two dozen corporations that want to see higher education thrive, as well as those who publicise and write up our output.

Of course, when you work for a small organisation, everything is a team effort and everyone has to pitch in and work hard. HEPI is currently blessed with an incredibly strong team and everything we do – including this week’s successful HEPI Annual Conference – is testament to their skill and commitment. So thank you Lucy, Emma, Rose, Josh and Carole for your commitment – and thank you to earlier generations of HEPI staff that I have worked with too. More than anything, the award feels like recognition of a brilliant team firing on all cylinders. (The photo below is of the HEPI’s Trustees, the HEPI Advisory Board and HEPI’s staff at our most recent in-person meeting, in May 2025.)

I understand no one gets an honour unless it has the support of a good number of people. I have no idea who backed the idea of giving me one – indeed, I had no idea I was in the running for it – but, whoever you are, I’m very grateful, as I am to those who processed it and agreed to it.

Finally, my job is very full on. It means long hours and lots of UK travel. I don’t complain about that; quite the opposite as I benefit a great deal from attending so many interesting events in our brilliant sector and learning from them. But my amazing wife, Lara, and my wonderful children, Ben and Amity, have had to make sacrifices to fit around what I do. So to them, thank you and I love you.