It is with profound sadness that we announce that fellow Board member, dear friend and colleague Andrew Stevenson died suddenly just before Christmas.

Andrew became a Director at around the same time as Ceri Nursaw became CEO in 2017.  He was the perfect Board member and colleague.  He had an ability to get to the heart of an issue, to reflect it back and enable a consideration of the way forward.  As Ceri says ‘he was generous with his time, but not free with it.   For every brainstorming discussion we had I made sure I had already considered every angle – he was not one for lazy thinking!’

Where we will miss him most is his absolute view that NCEE, and our entrepreneurial leadership programmes provide a unique and valuable style of leadership development and thinking.  And he himself, an alumnus of Entrepreneurial Leaders, had an agile and creative entrepreneurial mindset – helping to drive change both within the University of Lincoln and beyond.  He challenged the status quo.

The co-creation of Entrepreneurial Heads with the University of Lincoln was fed by Andrew’s absolute belief that Heads of Service and School need to embrace innovative and creative leadership.  He recognised the pivotal role played by Heads, the difficult management position they inhabit. He had a desire to ensure that they had the toolkit to equip them for the challenges of their role.

But it is also the man we will miss.  The man addicted to Wotsit’s Giants, who searched high and low for new shoes and when he found some bought them in different colours, who was a committed vegetarian. The caring partner, son, brother, friend and devoted loving dad who played football in all weathers with his son.

At NCEE we have a responsibility to further Andrew’s work and we are committed to building on his legacy.  He will be so missed, but absolutely not forgotten. The thoughts of the Board and all associated with NCEE are with his family, friends and colleagues at the University of Lincoln.