Lunar Society Executive Committee

The Society is run by its Executive Committee comprising the Honorary Officers and 6 other members of the Society. The Committee has powers to co-opt up to three additional members. Elections take place each AGM, which is usually held in July.

The Society's six strategic themes are each led by a small Subcommittee chaired by an Lunar Society member. The Executive also has two Standing Committees, the Programme Committee chaired by Michael Lawrence, and the Membership Committee chaired by Wayne Horkan.

Peter MayerPeter Mayer, the Society's Chairman, retired in January 2007 from South Birmingham PCT and UHB as a Stroke and Geriatriac Physician with a lifelong interest in Birmingham, its people and in the provision of good services for older and disabled people. He is a trustee of UHB charities, chairs the regional stroke research network and is a fitness to practice assessor for the General Medical Council. He is an ex-pupil and now a governor of King Edwards Five Ways. He started Crossroads Care in Birmingham and now sits on the national executive. He has recently joined the national council of the Socialist Health Association. He is a member of BACOP the local authority advisory body on older peoples service, chairs Weoley Castle Age Concern and is Hon. President of the Institute of Aging and Health (West Midlands).

He is married to Rosie with whom he shares seven children; they are both in Rotary and have a particular interest in overseas projects.Rosie is president (2009-10) of their club and Peter is a district assistant governor.

Waheed Saleem is vice Chairman of the Society. He has held a number of management positions in different areas within the health service. He is currently Assistant Director in Birmingham and has previously worked at senior levels in commissioning, hospital management, primary care and capital planning. A graduate of the London School of Economics in Social Policy, he has chaired a number of major regeneration programmes and as been an active member of the local community. He is currently a trustee of NACRO and an assessor for the Post Graduate Medical Education and Training Board. Previously he has been a member of a number of national committees including the Sustainable Development Commission, NRF National Community Forum, National Crime Squad Service Authority, Rail Passenger Committee and the Meat Hygiene Advisory Committee. His interests are in social policy, especially in the fields of sustainable development, health, social exclusion, crime, regeneration, diversity and youth policy. He is a fellow of the RSA.

Mario Minichiello is Honorary Secretary of the Society, He is head of Department and Chair of Visual Communications programmes at Birmingham City University BIAD, Faculty of Art and Design. He is also a visiting research Fellow at the University of Sydney, School of Art. An award winning artist and designer producing both inspirational and often controversial reportage artwork for broad cast media including television, broadsheet newspapers and magazines. He is investigating the application of art and design process to medical and social needs, including the functions of drawing as a mediator for the expression of cultural diversity and as an analytical tool.

John Gelling Ellis FCA is the Honorary Treasurer of the Society. He is a Chartered Accountant in practice. During his 30 years as a partner in a small practice in Castle Bromwich, he expanded the firm into the City Centre, which then became part of what is now RSM Bentley Jennison. For the last fifteen years he has been in practice initially on his own & subsequently with another partner for around ten years. During this time he built up considerable experience of general accountancy, tax and business affairs, and as a consequence became first involved in many church and charity clients, and also in clients who specialised in fund raising and project management. In the last fifteen years he was Treasurer at Edgbaston Priory Club and also a Governor at Kings Norton Boys School where his son attended, and his 3 daughters attended the associated Kings Norton Girls School. He relaxes through playing tennis as well as racket ball at Edgbaston Priory, walking his dog, enjoying holidays through HPB as well as visiting Australia and New Zealand to see his daughter and first grandchild and sister and family in New Zealand. He enjoys following the travails of the City of Birmingham and watching Rugby Union. In addition he follows the Stock Market as well as business as a whole.

Wayne Horkan is Membership Committee Chairman and was appointed at the 2011 AGM.

Dr Michael Lawrence is Chairman of the Programme Committee. He was Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Birmingham from 1957 - 1997. He had a Fullbright Fellow at N.C State University, North Carolina, USA from 1965-1966 and was visiting Professor in the Department of Genetics, Hebrew University, Israel in 1972. Michael's academic interests are population and quantitative genetics of plants including poppies and ryegrass and foud tropical species, oil palm (Malaysia), pigeon pea (India), rice (Phillipines and Sri Lanka) and sweet potato (Peru). He was Secretary of the Genetical Society for six years and a further three as Vice President.

Michael's other interests are in the history of ideas, both social and scientific; music, cooking, gardening and in particular, grandchildren.

Michael Overduin Michael Overduin, is Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Birmingham and has led a research group studying protein biochemistry at the School of Cancer Studies since 2003. He also serves as the Executive Director of the Henry Wellcome Building a national magnetic resonance facility, established in Birmingham in 2004 by the Wellcome Trust. He received his PhD from The Rockefeller University in 1993, then worked at the University of Toronto before joining the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for eight years. Among his awards are a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2004), Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences Award (1998) and Basil O'Connor Award (1998). He is an advocate for science and innovation in the region, an avid cyclist and canoeist, and a fan of Birmingham's diverse cultures, food and music.

Marc Reeves Marc Reeves is a highly experienced journalist, editor, senior media executive and digital entrepreneur. As a former editor of The Birmingham Post, he has for many years been involved in the civic, business and political life of the West Midlands. Since his tenure in 2006 at the Birmingham Post , he positioned the Post as a leading digital innovator in the regional press and a pioneer of the use of social media as a tool to help media organisations engage in new ways with new audiences. As editor of one of the UK's premier business-focussed newspapers, Marc led a national campaign in 2008 to press the then Brown-led government to show more pro-active support for car maker Jaguar Land Rover at a time when the UK's industrial policy was perceived as falling behind European rival. In 2010 he joined theBusinessDesk.com to launch its website in the West Midlands. theBusinessDesk.com is one of the leading examples in the UK of an exclusively online news and information service, offering regional business journalism across a number of digital platforms. .Marc is chairman of EventWith.Me, a startup social media-powered events business, sits on the board of Digital Birmingham and is on the fund raising committee for St Basil's, a Birmingham-based charity for young homeless people.

Hilary Shaylor was born in Bristol and trained as Nursery Nurse. She worked as a Primary teacher, teaching in Inner City schools and finished her career as Head Teacher in 1990. She subsequently spent nearly 10 years in Adult education training NNEB students and finally acting as a Professional tutor to student teachers’. Her voluntary work has included 5 years as Chairman of the Birmingham Settlement of which she is still a Trustee, she is Vice Chairman of a local Primary school Governing Body, a member of her Church Council and is a member of the Inner Wheel. Besides all this she is mother to 6 children, grandmother to 6 grandchildren and has been married for 50 years to Graham who was a founder member of the Lunar society.

Kenny Webster

Kenny Webster was appointed a member of the Executive Committee at the 2011 AGM. He is the Informal Learning Manager and Resident Scientist at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum. A former post doctoral Biochemist, Kenny now applies his passion for science within a broader context, working with his team at Thinktank to engage all audiences with science and technology from the past, present and into the future. As well as managing the team of Gallery Enablers who look after all visitors to the museum and deliver a wide variety of activities for them, Kenny also leads the Access and Inclusion team, working with, amongst others, local communities to develop their engagement with a large modern museum. Kenny has worked with the Lunar Society for several years, playing host to the Annual Lecture and he also sits on the Science and Medicine sub-committee.

Photogragh of Dipali ChandraThe Executive Committee is supported by Secretary to the Society, Dipali Chandra. Previously Deputy Director at Barrow Cadbury Trust and Programme Adviser to Joseph Rowntree Foundation, both charitable foundations. She holds a Masters in Social Policy from the University of Birmingham and is currently a research associate with ECOTEC and Shared Intelligence, both social and public policy research and consulting companies. She also acts as Secretary to the Charitable Trusts West Midlands and is Trustee of the Institute of Voluntary Action Research, London.