MVR: Yes. When I moved to the University of Westminster in 1993 it was an unknown university – an old institution with a new name. My first position there was director of international education, then over the years I became effectively member of the executive.

I was responsible for the transformation of the university from a very much local, undergraduate focused institution to a very international university with a very high number of international students with a big provision of postgraduate education and of course with a campus in Central Asia. We were very successful with this, so much so that it got the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the export category twice, in 2000 and 2005, which is quite a unique achievement.

The PIE: This is your first move into the private sector. What drew you to LSBF?

MVR: First of all, I was attracted to it because it operates at a global level – and when you look at my background you will see that I’m one of the first generation to understand and be involved in internationalisation of higher education. And higher education these days is more and more becoming global. And what I like about this firm is that it thinks global, it acts global.

“I’m one of the first generation to understand and be involved in internationalisation of higher education”

The other thing that appealed to me is its innovation. Innovation is almost what drives LSBF and that is so refreshing when you come from the more traditional universities where it’s harder to focus on innovation.

The PIE: Can you give me an example of innovation at LSBF?

MVR: An example, and something else that drew me to the role, is there is a very big online provision. I think what’s happening in this field in higher education is just as important as what was happening in the book printing press in the 16th century, which of course had a major impact on how we teach. It revolutionised things, and I think we are in the middle of that now. An institution like LSBF probably understands it better than many other institutions.

The PIE: What’s your mission in leading LSBF over the coming years?

MVR: Obviously this is a very fast organisation. It expands very quickly and there is a major eagerness to try out new things, to be innovative, so as a rector I need to drive that – and  maybe give it a bit more direction at times. What I want is to make sure that we really do become a truly global organisation and that we operate all over the world. We already do now, in London, Toronto, Singapore and several other places, as well as online, but we need to expand that further and expand in the provision of portfolio.

The PIE: And how about in terms of enrolments?

MVR: We want to see growth continue. This is an amazing operation, which in ten years has grown from just four students to 38,000 which is mind blowingly impressive, and that’s only for starters. We will continue growing at the same kind of speed.

“In ten years LSBF has grown from just four students to 38,000 which is mind blowingly impressive”

The PIE: What do you think is the secret of LSBF’s success?

MVR: I think it’s about thinking from the student point of view. Rather than saying, “This is our course, this is what we feel you should know, are you good enough for my course,” we view it much more from the student’s perspective: we need to know where we should place that student, on what kind of course, what will be a convenient place or places for them to study, what will be most relevant to their careers. It’s not just about looking at the market demand.

The PIE: How about marketing? LSBF gives a lot of resource to this. [More>>]