Thank you, Dr Ros Morpeth OBE: from CEO to trustee, and now a new chapter

This year, Dr Ros Morpeth OBE retires from the board of the National Extension College. Her association with NEC spans decades, and we want to mark it by thanking her for the enormous impact she has had on thousands of students’ lives, and on the charity itself.

In 2021, Ros stepped down as Chief Executive and handed the leadership of NEC to Esther Chesterman. She didn’t step away, though. She stayed on as a trustee and has been one of the board’s most active and engaged members ever since: challenging, supporting and championing NEC’s mission, and generously sharing her knowledge of the charity and the sector with the team. It has been a model of how to hand over leadership and keep your commitment to a cause.

On 11th December, we are holding an event to celebrate Ros and her contribution. We are delighted that Daniel Zeichner MP and Sue Griffiths, Chief Executive of the Young Foundation, will join us. The Young Foundation continues the work of Michael Young, who founded NEC, so it is a fitting connection.

Ros’s Story with NEC

Ros has always gone above and beyond to support students and widen participation in lifelong learning, so much so that she received an OBE in 2015 for services to further education. Ros left school at 17 and was herself a second chance learner, returning to study anthropology at the University of Cambridge as a mature student. After working in a variety of roles at NEC, she became Chief Executive in 1987.

After leaving in the early 2000s, Ros worked for international agencies like UNICEF and UNESCO to help developing countries use flexible learning to reach the hardest to reach, before returning to NEC in 2011.

From then until 2021, Ros dedicated herself to those in pursuit of a quality education, campaigning on behalf of NEC students and private candidates across the UK. She developed invaluable partnerships with other educational organisations including:

• Open University
• Open College of the Arts
• WEA
• Prisoners’ Education Trust
• University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education
• Association for Art History and many more

From left: NEC chair of trustees Geoffrey Hubbard, Morpeth and NEC founder Michael Young celebrate NEC’s 25-year anniversary

What Others Said When Ros Stepped Down as CEO

When Ros stepped down in 2021, colleagues and partners paid tribute. Their words still hold true.

“Ros has delivered a powerful combination of unrelenting and dedicated professional focus which is energised by her undoubted and widely recognised personal passion and commitment. This mix has contributed significantly to the ongoing success of the NEC but also to the development of the life-long learning movement in general.” – Andrew Law, Director of Business Innovation, The Open University

“Working with Ros has always been a delight and her contribution to adult and distance education through her leadership of NEC is unparalleled. We are all in her debt. May her retirement be long, healthy and full of fun.” – Sir Alan Tuckett, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Wolverhampton

“I have had the pleasure of working with Ros for many years and have always been in awe of her passion for NEC’s mission to provide second chance learning to all. She has seen the charity through good times and not so good times, and has weathered numerous educational upheavals and challenges with extraordinary resilience. Ros and I are possibly the last remaining NEC staff who can recall the days when student records were held in enormous – and lethal  – rotating filing “drums”, and when sending out an e-shot required a raucous team of students, a table full of flyers, guides and envelopes and a lot of sticky-glue rollers. I wish Ros a fantastic retirement: we will miss her.” – Alison Edwards, Education and Quality Manager, National Extension College

“I first met Ros in 1990 when I moved to Cambridge from London and I had a temping assignment at NEC as her secretary.  I didn’t know then that NEC would form part of my growth and career development in the ensuing years.  Ros saw something in me that I didn’t, and continually encouraged and supported me to take on new challenges.  During the period until now although I left NEC a few times, I was drawn back mainly due to Ros offering me new opportunities and so glad she did.  Ros has an unbelievable passion for NEC and what it offers students but also education in general. I really admire her resilience and strength in coming out of retirement back in 2011 to lead it back to where it is now.  Not only for our students but also offering continual employment to staff. I would like to thank Ros for the support she has given me over the years but also want to say ‘you should be so proud of yourself and what you have achieved – enjoy your well-deserved retirement’.” – Helen Smith, Office Manager and Executive Assistant, National Extension College

Thank you, Ros

Leading NEC through nearly three decades as CEO, and then serving as a trustee for the years since, Ros has given the charity a remarkable amount of her working life. As she leaves the board, all of us at NEC want to thank her for all she has done, and to say that we hope she will stay close to the NEC community.

 “Taking over from Ros in 2021 was a privilege, and having her on the board since has been a gift. Her wisdom, challenge and warmth have made NEC stronger.” – Esther Chesterman, CEO