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 run by six Groups, each led by a small Subcommittee chaired by an Executive Committee member. The Executive also has two Standing Committees, the Programme Committee co-chaired by Peter Mayer and Judith Taylor, and the Membership Committee chaired by John Ellis.

Marion Roberts, the Society's Chair is a qualified general, orthopaedic, fever and district nurse, and a former Army Nursing Sister with considerable later experience in geriatric care She is also a journalist, writer, reviewer, researcher and lecturer and a prize-winning short story writer. She was Secretary / Vice-Chairman, QARANC Association (Midlands); Council Member / Journal Editor, Birmingham General Hospital Nurses’ League for ten years; Member, Literature Advisory Panel, West Midlands Arts; Member of the Freelance Industrial Council / Equality Council and Minutes Secretary, National Union of Journalists; Assistant Public Relations Officer, West Midlands Regional Health Authority; chair of governors at local schools and a teacher of creative writing within the Birmingham, West Midlands and Worcestershire Libraries Services. She is a Council Member, Birmingham and Midland Institute and is now completing an MLitt. (Research)degree on the Lichfield poet, Anna Seward at the University of Birmingham.

Peter MayerPeter Mayer, the Society's Vice-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.

Judith Taylor, the Society's Vice-chairman is a JP, a Trustee for Bryony House and an adviser for Birmingham Citizens Advice Bureau. Previously she was an Assistant Principal at City College of FE Birmingham. She ran the Student Services that covered advice and guidance, counselling, international students, support funds and college nurseries. Prior to her work in colleges she had a career in nursing. She is also an active member of NADFAS, RA, and NT.


Michael OverduinMichael Overduin, Hon Secretary of the Society, 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.

Richard Harris is the Hon Treasurer of the Society. A chartered accountant by training, he has been a partner at Price Waterhouse and held senior financial positions in tow FTSE100 industrial companies. His work has taken him to all parts of the world including two years living in Hong Kong.

He is a non executive director of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, trustee of the Birmingham Community Foundation, governor of the RSA Tipton Academy and a trustee of the pension fund of Action for Children, the UK's largest children's charity. He served for eight years as governor of North East Worcestershire Further Education College, including time as chair of its finance committee.

John Gelling Ellis FCA 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.


Lady Anne Knowles has a professional background in social work and specialised in adoption and fostering services in Northern Ireland and Scotland. In Birmingham she worked with children and their parents with emotional and behavioural difficulties. She was appointed a magistrate in 1984, chaired Age Concern Birmingham from 1990 to 1994, of which she remains a trustee, and served the city as Lady Mayoress in 1994-5. She was founder member of the Lunar Society.

Dr Michael Lawrence 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.

Professor Mario Minichiello 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.


Waheed Saleem 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.

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.

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 West Midlands Charitable Trusts Group and is an Associate non-Executive Director of Heart of Birmingham PCT.