030 The Bath Perspective Tim Gore DBA Higher Education Management, current student Tim Gore is the founding Director of the Centre for Indian Business, the University of Greenwich. His role is to engage the University of Greenwich's intellectual capital with India and to create sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships. Tim has worked closely with educationalists, institutions, companies and governments to improve bilateral and multilateral educational links in Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and India over a 23-year career. He has led the development of programmes on creativity for professionals with the Singapore Government (CREST); established e-learning and blended learning programmes for Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai; led the establishment of the British University in Dubai; and helped Jordan establish an evaluation framework for its ICT-led Jordan Education Initiative. His most recent role was Director, Education at the British Council in India where he was responsible for developing the knowledge partnership between India and the UK. In addition, Tim led the establishment of the UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) which has £26 million funding from the UK and Indian governments and sponsors over a 5-year period and has already established over 200 educational partnerships. Tim is pursuing a DBAHEM at the University of Bath. His research concerns the positioning of universities as knowledge producers in a globalising world. Tim also holds two master's: as an applied linguist and in business administration. He was awarded an OBE for services to education in June 2008. In September he is moving to a new rôle at the University of London External Programme as Director, Global Partnerships and Communities. What sparked your interest in working in education? I had graduated from Bradford University in Archaeological Sciences but wasn't sure what career I wanted to follow. I found out about a volunteer programme for graduates in Sudan. I signed up and spent two fascinating years in north and south Sudan as a volunteer teacher. I used my background in science, and taught maths and physics as well as English literature and even practical health! The experience of working as a teacher amongst the Sudanese sparked my love of education. Why did you choose to go overseas to work? My experience in Sudan was very important ­ I realised that the world was large and very diverse and this made me curious to live in new environments. I had also always been interested in history and archaeology which gave me a perspective on the world at large. While I was young my father gave me some old books on the great Victorian explorers which also opened up fascinating glimpses of other cultures and environments. I met my wife, Isabelle, just after my experience in Sudan and we shared an excitement about travelling ­ we set off together for Egypt in the early eighties and spent the next 23 years overseas. Why did you choose to pursue the DBA HEM at Bath? I did a lot of research on doctoral programmes that would suit my fairly varied background. Bath stood out as a programme which combined the intellectual depth of a doctorate with a professional focus on higher education ­ I liked the way the programme was structured so that you get an overview of the sector at a more analytical level before homing in on areas of interest. It gives a lot of scope for creativity and exploratory research. Your service to education has been recognised by the conferment of the OBE in 2008 ­ what specifically led to this award being conferred on you? My work with the UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) was an important part of this. I was the British Council's Country Director in Jordan and moved to India as Director, Education just as this programme was starting to be conceptualised. Within the first couple of weeks I had to organise an exploratory visit for the then Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell to look at how the programme was to be designed and implemented. I was responsible for developing and leading the British Council's involvement in UKIERI and we took on the delivery of the programme and management of the resources. It was a