Sue Searle, as Chair, is the Executive Chairman of KCLA.  Sue was Mistress Consort at The Worshipful Company of Distillers, 2022-2023, and very much enjoyed getting to know people in so many liveries of the City of London. Sue has been installed as a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Educators and is delighted to have been invited to join the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers. She became a Freeman of the City of London in December 2025.

She received the King’s College London Helen Hudson Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021 in recognition of her outstanding support to our King’s alumni community. Sue has mentored several students and alumni in developing start-ups. Sue is also a member of the Kings Alumni Advisory Group.

Sue runs several online, international businesses grouped under Paragon House International. These cover a wide variety of different areas including European property, e-commerce and restaurants in the Mediterranean. Her latest project is a networking platform for wine producers, buyers and distributors.  She is passionate about startups and entrepreneurial ventures.  Sue was previously a research chemist in the pharmaceutical industry (Glaxo, Eli Lilly) and a computer programmer (Honeywell).

She also has an MSc in Frontiers in Medical Science, 2022, and a PGCE, 1995.

Sue has been KCLA Vice-Chair for over two years has led the development of KCLA’s social media presence and new web site as well as organising the annual dinner and major events.

Diana Garnham, as President, is the figurehead of KCLA. The President’s role is to advise the Chair when invited to do so. She has more than thirty years’ experience in the charity sector  including multiple trustee positions, and 25 years in executive leadership roles in membership or stakeholder led environments: her last senior role was as chief executive of the Science Council.  Prior to that she was CEO of the Association of Medical Research Charities.  She currently chairs Skills East Sussex, is an independent member of the Construction Industry Training Board and on the Council of Christ’s Hospital.

During her career Diana has served on more than 30 boards and in addition to her role as President of Kings College London Alumni Association she chairs college the Kings Alumni Advisory Group.  Her consultancy work has been focussed on supporting voluntary organisations to deliver a positive impact on peoples’ lives through effective leadership, good strategy, diversity, and strong stakeholder engagement.  She received the Helen Hudson award in 2023 for her commitment to alumni activities which have included mentoring students, supporting the Giving Campaign and several initiatives to re-engage with alumni.

Diana is committed to widening educational opportunity in the UK and supporting increased take up of science and technology skills at all levels, working with organisations supporting public engagement in science and technology and a belief in the power of individuals to make a lasting difference to their communities and societies.

She has two honorary doctorates: one from the University of Leicester for her work on public engagement in science and one from the University of Brighton in recognition of her contribution to diversity in science.

Council Membership

The following existing members of Council have indicated that they would be willing to serve for one to three years.  This will maintain continuity and historic knowledge and enable individuals to develop areas of activity that interest them.

Dame Katherine is a British rower and holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Law from King’s College London, 2013.

She is Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympian with  five Olympic medals under her belt:  silver at the Sydney Olympics (2000) in women’s quadruple sculls; silver in Athens  (2004) in the cox-less pairs; silver in Beijing (2008) in the quadruple sculls; gold in London (2012) with Anna Watkins, breaking the Olympic record for the double sculls final; silver in Rio (2016) with Victoria Thornley in the double sculls.

Katherine has won eight medals at World Championships between 1997 and 2011 of which six were gold medals.

Katherine was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2017. She is also the current Chair of UK Sport, a Fellow of King’s College London and has served as Chancellor of both Oxford Brookes University and University of Glasgow.

W. Hagerup has worked as a reporter and freelance writer in Norway, writing several published short stories and scripts for short-films. He has lived in England since 1997, and from 2010 worked as a translator and editor. Hagerup studied English language and Literature at The University of Trondheim, Norway, and was a post-graduate student of 18th Century English literature, critical theory and translation there and at King’s College London. Hagerup has had an inside view of life in a Christian sect from the age of fourteen to twenty-nine. His first book was a process of catharsis, and the author hopes it might help others find honesty in their faith, or non-faith. Two new books are underway, in which the author’s humour and keen sense of observation are seen at full blast.

Read more at William’s blog: https://whagerup.wordpress.com/

William has also been heavily involved in Toastmasters and the 104 Debaters in London, served as President and and is very well equipped to support debates and potential speakers, having huge experience in this area. He has done a lot of work on critical thinking and run workshops on how to debate.

Executive Director – Head of Operational Resilience at SMBC Group.

An Operational Resilience Leader with extensive experience leading and delivering global cross-functional operational resilience programmes inline with global regulatory expectations and a breadth of experience across cyber security, technology risk management and transformation, governance, and complex regulatory change within the financial services sector. Passionate about embedding resilience by design and inspiring the next generation of female leaders and bringing the sector together for social good. 🏆EY UK Financial Services DE&I Role Model | EY UKFS | 2021 🏆EY EMEIA Financial Services 100 Women | EY EMEIA | 2020 🏆EY Race and Ethnicity Network’s Rising Star Award Winner | EY UK (firmwide) | 2020 🏆TechWomen100 Individual Award Winner | WeAreTechWomen | 2019

Charlie graduated MBBS from Guys Hospital in 1989 having been a keen rugby player, representing Guy’s Hospital RFC (founded 1843 – the oldest rugby club in the world), the University of London and Surrey U21s. He trained as a GP and Occupational Physician in the UK MOD, moving later into medical leadership and management positions.

He is currently studying part time at KCL for a PhD in Military Healthcare Ethics, and lectures and has published academic and policy papers in this area. He also undertakes a lot of charity work as President of the registered charity Penguins Against Cancer (www.penguinsagainstcancer.org.uk).

He was appointed KCLA Sports Secretary in early 2024, with a remit to promote sport, and encourage Alumni and current Students to work together to engage in sporting activity. He chairs the KCLA Sports Committee which organises the annual HOPFEST sports festival involving both Students and Alumni.

Roderick graduated from Kings in 1972 having reading Chemistry and computer studies. He thereafter trained in a small firm of Chartered Accountants where he went on to become a Partner. A short interlude in the early 1980’s at a medium sized firm, persuaded him that smaller public practices, dealing with very largely owner-managed businesses, was his preference.

He joined a sole practitioner in West London in 1982, became a Partner, and on the death of his Partner in 1999, continued on his own in public practise until 2014 when he merged his practise with a larger firm, becoming a Consultant, where he still works, – almost full time.

He covers most aspects of a small practise, including audits, and he specialised in Charity Audits, gaining the post-nominal letters  D. Ch. A  ( Diploma in Charity Accounting) immediately on its introduction by the ICAEW.

In his spare time, Roderick walks a 2 year old Border Collie, has a ceremonial role in the City of London, and still collects antiques.

Role description

The Treasurer is responsible for overseeing the financial administration of the Association and ensuring that the organisation’s financial affairs are conducted in a timely and efficient manner within the constitution and accepted accounting practice for an unincorporated voluntary organisation.

James has been an active member of the Kings College Geography alumni group for around 20 years. The geography alumni group also includes LSE graduates, as Kings and LSE once shared a joint school of geography. The group has organised numerous geography-based walks in and around London for many years, along with a variety of alumni reunions and get-togethers. All Kings and LSE students are welcome to join the walks, as we really believe that “the more the merrier”.

Statement from James:

“I have been lucky enough to be the KCLA Geography representative for over 5 years, and I look forward to continuing to help KCLA develop, grow, and rebuild, especially after Covid impacted so many of our activities.

I look forward to meeting more members of KCLA community in the coming months and years and I will be happy to introduce more geography alumni to the Kings alumni group.”

Since graduation from the KCL’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience Grace has built a career in the charity sector providing support to vulnerable adults with housing and mental health needs. She is currently a manager in the Newham Integrated Rough Sleepers Support Service on behalf of Change Grow Live for the Housing First Scheme which aims to provide new homes to rough sleepers. She is very passionate about her work.

Grace’s statement:

“I am also passionate about creating environment where people can meaningfully connect with one another.

Last year, with the support of the previous KCLA Chair and Vice Chair and 8 other KCL Alumni, I started a KCLA Younger Alumni Group aimed at meeting the networking needs of alumni under 35. We organised a black-tie Inaugural Dinner in the Governors’ Hall in St Thomas Hospital at the end of November and attracted 78 guests. KCLA is run by alumni for alumni. It will therefore be my privilege to stand for council to represent the Younger Alumni Group with the hope of hosting more events where younger Alumni will meaningfully connect with one another.”

Challacombe was the Martin Rushton Professor of Oral Medicine at King’s College, London and the University of London, a consultant in diagnostic microbiology and immunology to Guys & St Thomas Hospitals, and Dean for external affairs at King’s College London Health Schools.  He is a former chair of KCLA and continues to be active in leading the work on the King’s Sport Hall of Fame.

Stephen was awarded the Helen Hudson Award 2024, which honours King’s alumni who have made an outstanding impact on the university or alumni community.

My name is Camelia Manta. I am from Romania. I have done my undergraduate studies in Romania where I read International Economic Relations at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

Following my studies, I joined the Economic and Trade Section of the Argentinian Embassy in Bucharest where I authored regular reports on domestic institutional and policy developments, produced economic and political analyses for Argentinian high-level officials visiting the country, and coordinated economic and cultural events. I particularly remember coordinating a Latin American Film Festival in Bucharest together with the other Latin American embassy present in Romania, which was really great fun.

Years later, I joined the European Medicines Agency in London, where I helped make sense of complex financial processes, supported Agency-wide public tenders, and worked on large-scale, EU-wide programmes.

Following Brexit, I decided to stay in London and return to university to further my education. At King’s, I studied an MSc in Emerging Economies and International Development, and graduated in January 2024 (with distinction). Following my studies, I engaged in voluntary work with Cancer Research UK to broaden my experience and contribute to meaningful causes that I care about.

I am also very passionate about languages. I speak fluently Spanish, and French at professional working proficiency. My career through-line has always involved languages, and at present I am a Spanish-speaking mentor to a young student, who is currently preparing for her A-level Spanish exams.  I am helping her gain more confidence in speaking Spanish, in preparation for her oral exam.

I thoroughly enjoy this experience, as it allows me to dive into the curriculum and engage in meaningful conversations in Spanish about current issues facing the Spanish-speaking world, topics that I explored during my master’s studies as well, including immigration, racism, dictatorships, gender identity, and gender equality, to name just a few. It also gives me valuable insight into how young people perceive these challenges and the way in which they choose to address them. This
experience has inspired me to explore a career in becoming a Spanish teacher, as I find great fulfilment in helping young people engage with the language and its cultural contexts.

Tina read medicine at Guy’s and is chair John Fry at Guy’s Alumni Group.  The group meets at least annually and funds scholarships of £1000 each to medical students in financial need.

Tina was Principal of a group practice in Greenwich for many years, Sheitan and Honorary Senior Teaching Fellow at the Primary Care Department of the Medical School.

Tina has said her happiest memory of Guys was meeting her future husband Stephen.  It was also where she met the doctors who were to become her partners in general practice after she qualified.

Tina is an active volunteer and has held multiple trusteeships with charities local to Greenwich where she lives. She has also been an active member of KCLA Council for many years.

Steven Marc Rhodes is Assistant General Counsel and Privacy Lawyer at ALLEGIS GROUP LIMITED.  Stephen’s professional specialities include: advice on data processing especially in employment law and the medico-legal aspects of the protection insurance sector including product development, regulation of retail financial services and advice to, amongst others, UK trade associations and forums on legalities and regulatory work.

Steven was a member of Kings College Council from 2005-2008 and is a former chair of KCLA.  He will be leading the Duel Celebration Development Group for KCLA.

Paul read Chemistry at Queen Elizabeth College which was merged with Kings College prior to his graduation in 1987.  He has 30+ years’ experience in the financial markets, establishing and running several businesses.  His specialties include property-related alternative fund management, broking, trading and FinTech product management.

Paul has been the chair of the Queen Elizabeth College group for many years and is also involved in KCL’s alumni men’s lacrosse.  He served as chair of KCLA and has been an active and dedicated Council member.

I graduated from King’s in 2022 from a MA in Geopolitics, Resources and Territory. I also have a BA in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge. I have recently worked for a communication company as a research analyst on Middle Eastern geopolitics, where I successfully delivered a series of presentations and policy briefs, and participated in workshops for various stakeholders, including senior decision-makers. One of my key achievements at IN2 was organising an advisory workshop for a client’s board of directors on transitioning to net-zero emissions. I was responsible for coordinating the event, managing logistics, and ensuring the content aligned with the client’s strategic goals. I created compelling narratives and visuals to generate interest, inform stakeholders, and increase engagement. This workshop resulted in the design of a new client’s net-zero strategy through key investments in renewable energy sources and low-carbon emissions solutions for our client’s supply chain.

A core passion of mine is supporting diverse communities and promoting inclusive spaces, and I am committed to ensuring that King’s social media channels reflect this commitment. Whether in my role as a Student Fellow at the British Royal Anthropological Institute, where I engaged with diverse academic communities, or as a facilitator of workshops and events, I have always strived to create environments where all participants feel represented and heard. Additionally, my role as a Conference Delegate at the Anthropology & Geography Conference, where I chaired panels and facilitated cross-disciplinary dialogues, allowed me to gain firsthand experience in promoting academic events and engaging diverse audiences. I synthesised key takeaways, created summaries, and shared them with attendees to boost engagement and interactions between panellist and attendees.

I studied Ancient History at King’s and now work in law. I have a passion for sports, and I’m excited to help bring the KCLA community together through sporting events.