Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team

Professor Gwyneth Stallard is the chair of the Self-Assessment Team and Deputy Head of School. She came to the OU in 1994 as a Research Fellow and was promoted to Professor of Pure Mathematics in 2009. She returned to work half-time following maternity leave in 1999 and has gradually increased her hours, returning to full-time work in 2012. She was Chair of the London Mathematical Society's Women in Mathematics Committee from 2006 to 2015 and is currently a Diversity Champion on the EPSRC Mathematical Sciences SAT.

Dr Andrey Umerski is Head of School and a member of the applied mathematics group.  He was formerly Director of the Postgraduate Mathematics Programme for many years. He takes a holistic view of Athena Swan initiatives and is generally interested in the health and wellbeing of the School and its staff.

Dr Andrew Potter is the School's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead, and co-chairs the Self-Assessment Team. Andrew started with the OU as an Associate Lecturer in 2014 and, thanks to the encouragement and support from his own Staff Tutor, became a Staff Tutor himself in 2018. He is currently Deputy Associate Dean (Academic Excellence) for the STEM Faculty, where he works on EDI-related challenges across the Faculty. He is also a committee member for OU Proud, the university's LGBT+ staff network.

Professor Uwe Grimm is a Professor of Mathematics and the lead of the Applied Mathematics group in the School. In the past, Uwe was Head of School and Associate Dean for Research and served as a member of various groups and committees, including promotions committees at Faculty and University level and the University's Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team. He currently appraises staff in Applied Mathematics and contributes to the School’s promotion group and subgroup.

Professor June Barrow-Green is a Professor in the History of Mathematics. She is actively involved in outreach events, many of which are aimed at encouraging girls into mathematics or concern the history of women in mathematics. She has also published on the history of the gender gap in mathematics. In 2021 her research on the under-representation of women in historical narratives and in contemporary mathematics was recognised by the Royal Society through the award of the 2021 Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar medal.

Dr TC O'Neil is a Senior Lecturer in Analysis (and previous Head of Department). In their home life, they are responsible for mucn of the child-related domestic management and have adjusted their working life to accommodate this. Pre-covid, their daughter was a regular visitor to the department and is very clear on the advantages of the academic life – your own whiteboard.

Dr Ian Short is the Director of Research in Mathematics and Statistics. He is active in teaching and research, and active in taking care of his two daughters, who both attend a primary school.

Dr Hayley Ryder is a Staff Tutor in pure mathematics and deputy director of the mathematics MSc. Hayley and her partner both work full time. They have three children, two of whom have special needs, several cats, and five actively used expresso machines.

Charlotte Webb is a lecturer in Mathematics Education and the External Engagement Lead for the School. She joined the OU in 2016, and took maternity leave in 2019, returning part-time before increasing her hours to full time in 2021. She runs the Mathematical Art club and writes for the OU Maths Ed blog page. She has one son at nursery school and a very vocal sausage dog.

Dr Kastubh Adhikari is a lecturer in statistics, having joined the OU in 2019, and represents the Statistics section in the team. He also leads the Genetics section of the OU Race and Ethnicity Hub. His research involves the application of statistics to human diversity and human genetics, and consequently he is vocal about the underrepresentation of minority groups in genetics research. Personally, he is of minority ethnicity, being of South Asian origin, and an immigrant to the UK.

Dr Vasiliki Evdoridou is the postdoc representative on the team and her research is within the field of Complex Dynamics. She is responsible for the School's Athena Swan tea and cake events, which are social events open to all staff and research students of the School. She is also a member of the University's Athena Swan committee.

Brigitte Stenhouse is the PhD Student representative on the team. Her research is in History of Mathematics and focuses on the work of Mary Somerville (1780-1872), encompassing both Somerville’s contributions to mathematical knowledge but also how she navigated what was then an actively hostile environment for women.

Libby Meade is the Senior Manager, Qualifications in the School of Mathematics and Statistics.  She has worked in the School since 2001 and works closely with non-academic support staff to ensure effective delivery of our curriculum to students.  She is interested in helping support staff develop their potential at work.  She has a daughter at secondary school and whilst full-time now, Libby spent 9 years working on a part-time basis.  She therefore particularly appreciates the opportunities for flexible working offered by the University. 

Tracy Johns is the School Office Manager providing all the administrative support to both the Chair of the Self Assessment Team and the Team and assists with the compilation of submissions and data.  She joined the Faculty of Maths and Computing at the OU in 1989 having held various secretarial and administrative positions within the Faculty during that time.  Tracy works compressed hours under the agile working scheme.