The World 100 Reputation Network is overseen by a committee of professionals from eligible leading universities. They are involved in growing the membership, promoting World 100 events and research, and share their experiences and insights at our networking at our industry events.

Find out more about our committee members below:

Andrea Farquhar

Andrea Farquhar (Chair)

Associate Vice-President, Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs
McMaster University, Canada

Andrea leads a team at McMaster that is responsible for strategic reputational management, marketing and media relations, digital media communications, fundraising communications and the alumni magazine, government and community relations, and internal communications.  McMaster is a research-intensive institution with 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students.  The University is internationally respected for founding evidence-based medicine and creating problem-based learning, which has been adopted at universities around the world.

Andrea has been at McMaster for the past 20 years but her first career was in media.  After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in English and history, she became a radio news reporter.  When she finished her eight-year radio career, she was reading the news on CFRB, Canada’s most listened to news station.

Jo Kite University of Birmingham

Jo Kite

Deputy Director of External Relations
University of Birmingham

Jo is Deputy Director of External Relations at the University of Birmingham and leads on the University’s reputation and engagement activities.  She is responsible for three directorates within the External Relations Division: Birmingham Global;  Public and Cultural Engagement; and Communications and Reputation.  She was previously Director of Communications and Reputation at Birmingham and has also held communications and marketing roles in the public and private sector.

As well as being a member of the World 100 Committee, she is active in other senior communications and engagement networks and has previously been Co-Chair of the Russell Group Communications Directors network.

University of Birmingham has been a member of the World 100 Reputation Network since 2016

Siobhan Forbes

Siobhan Forbes

Executive Director Marketing and Communications
University of Melbourne, Australia

Siobhan Forbes joined the University of Melbourne in July 2017.

Siobhan has experience in the public and commercial sectors, most recently within financial services at National Australia Bank. She has also worked with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Employment, Education and Training, Telstra, Michelin, Transport Accident Commission, Australia Post and Transurban, among others. She has held non-executive positions with the Australasian Shared Services Association, the Breast Cancer Institute, and St Brigid’s. Siobhan is also co-founder of a company specialising in measurement and development of social intelligence.

Alan Ferns

Alan Ferns

Alan Ferns is a communications and marketing professional with a proven track record of building winning teams and translating strategies and goals into distinctive brands and campaigns which produce results.

He is an experienced leader and qualified executive coach who led communications during a successful higher education merger and built the brand that has transformed the global reputation of The University of Manchester.

He is now working as a reputation and communications consultant and leadership coach is a trustee with Citizens Advice and is also a community volunteer in Salford.