Mark Laity is a widely respected expert on Strategic Communications and a key leader in its development within NATO where his nickname was ‘Mr StratCom’. He has been involved with the media, information & Strategic Communication for more than four decades, both as a journalist, mostly with the BBC, & then in senior posts within NATO.

From 2007 until 2017, he was the Chief Strategic Communications (StratCom) at SHAPE, the first holder of the post. This followed the first of three tours of Afghanistan, for which he was awarded NATO’s Meritorious Service Medal. He joined NATO in 2000 as Special Adviser to then Secretary General of NATO, Lord Robertson, and the Alliance’s Deputy Spokesman. This followed 22 years in journalism, mostly in the BBC, notably 11 years as the BBC's Defence Correspondent. A graduate of the University of York, in 2020 the university awarded him an Honorary Doctorate (DUniv). He is also an Associate Fellow at the King’s Centre for Strategic Communications, Kings College London.

Mark is now Senior Director of the StratCom Academy. He is also a British Army reservist with 77 Brigade.

Professor Jamie Shea CMG is Professor at the College of Europe Natolin.  He is also a Senior Fellow responsible for security and defence programmes at Friends of Europe and a Senior Advisor with the European Policy Centre.  Both of these think tanks are based in Brussels.  More recently, Jamie Shea has assumed the position of Senior Counsel to the Founder and CEO of Fanack/The Chronicle and Fanack Water.

Between 2018 and 2022 Jamie Shea was Professor of Strategy and Security at the University of Exeter and prior to that, for 38 years he was an international public servant and a member of the International Staff of NATO. His last NATO post was Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges. Other positions included Director of Policy Planning in the Private Office of the Secretary General, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for External Relations, Public Diplomacy Division, Director of Information and Press and Spokesman of NATO.

Professor Susanne Braun is Professor in Leadership at Durham University Business School and Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research of the Faculty of Business. She is the Principal Investigator of the grant Leadership Identity Dynamics in Work and Beyond: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Intervention funded by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI). She received her PhD (2011) and Habilitation (2017) in Psychology from Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany. She held posts at TUM School of Management and visiting scholarships at New York University and the University of California in Berkeley before joining Durham University in 2015.

Prof Braun has published in outlets such as Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, The Leadership Quarterly, British Journal of Management, Human Resource Management, Journal of Business Ethics, and the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. She received the Emerald Citation of Excellence and The Leadership Quarterly's Highly Cited Research Award in 2016. She is Associate Editor (Organizational Psychology) of Frontiers in Psychology and Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Organizational Behavior and the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2022-2024)

Dr Victoria Carr is a Reserve Officer in the British Army Intelligence Corps; a primary school Headteacher; a Chartered Manager and member of the CMI; a CollectivEd Senior Fellow, Leeds Beckett University; a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching; a Senior Research Fellow, the Centre for Army Leadership; an author and TEDx speaker who focuses on leadership, the power of language and how we all have the power to change lives. Vic advocates that there is a social imperative for those in leadership positions to actively create opportunities for transformational interactions with others.

She has been a keynote speaker at a range of military and educational leadership events, most recently speaking at the World Education Summit, and also the Defence Women’s Network annual conference. She has lectured part time at Master’s degree level. She has 3 MAs: in Equality and Diversity, Leadership, and Modern War Studies/ Contemporary Military History.

Her doctorate is in leadership and politics. She published her first book, Leading with Love, with Routledge last year and is already working on 2 more: one of which is in school improvement (Routledge) and one in Army officer recruitment since 1660 (Helion).

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2022-2024)

Sarah Chapman Trim is a Windsor Leadership alumna (Developing Leaders Programme), a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and the Chartered Management Institute and a former Non-Executive Director in Standing Joint Forces Command.

After commencing her career as an academic and a statistical consultant, Sarah became a deep specialist, keynote speaker and published author of over twenty articles and book chapters on the science of human behaviour, leadership and culture change. She has worked alongside and led a diverse and challenging stakeholder network within the Australian and British Armed Forces and strategic partners and allies, successfully influencing and working collaboratively with senior leaders to deliver long-term strategic change in personnel policy, leadership, organisational culture and performance.

As a Military Psychologist her specialisation is performance optimisation of individuals and groups in Isolated, Confined and Extreme (ICE) environments. She led and authored the review of the integration of women in to the RAN submarine service for the Chief of Navy and the Australian Parliament, the first dedicated Submarine Psychologist to serve in uniform in any naval force. She also served on OP FALCONER (OP TELIC) as Maritime Task Group Psychologist, the first RAN Psychologist to deploy to a theatre of operations and be appointed sub-unit Command. Her current research is resilience and the prevention of vicarious trauma during remote targeting.

Sarah holds a Master of Business Administration (double major in Human Resource Management and Project Management) and a Master of Arts (International Relations).

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2022-2024)

Dr Munish Chauhan MBBS, MRCS, PgDip, RAMC. Munish Chauhan moved to the UK, from India at the age of 17 and he is currently serving in the RAMC as a Surgical Registrar. In 2007, Munish joining the British Army as a CMT, serving with 22 Field Hospital. As a JNCO, he was assigned as a squadron medic with 49 Sqn (EOD) of 33 Engineers Regiment. In 2011, Munish started his medicine degree from St. George's University, London and subsequently re-joined the Army as a Medical Officer. He has various clinical publications to his name. Throughout his military career, Munish has deployed, both within the UK and abroad, providing essential medical support in locations such as Kenya, Cyprus, Germany, and Estonia.

Munish has a passion for coaching and mentoring, and he regularly lends his expertise to medical staff. As a guest speaker, Munish has presented and received awards from PGIMER, Chandigarh and Panjab University, Chandigarh in India. His community work and leading the charity events, has earned him recognition at the House of Parliament and by community leaders. Munish's media appearances, on television and radio, serve as a source of inspiration for young Indians contemplating careers in the British Armed Forces.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2023-2025)

Professor Alexander Evans OBE FRHistS. Prof. Evans is based at the London School of Economics. He is a former Henry Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, Senior Fellow at Yale, and Gwilym Gibbon Fellow at Nuffield College Oxford. A career member of the diplomatic service, he has also worked in 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office. He has served as Deputy and Acting High Commissioner to India and (briefly) Pakistan, led the UN Security Council expert group on Daesh, Al Qaida and the Taliban, and was a senior advisor in the U.S. Department of State.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2023-2025)

Dr Chris Kempshall is a public historian who specialises in transnational experiences of allied warfare and modern media representations of history. He is the author of numerous academic works including; The First World War in Computer Games (Palgrave 2015) and British, French, and American Relations on the Western Front 1914-1918 (Palgrave 2018).

His book The History and Politics of Star Wars: Death Stars and Democracy was published by Routledge in August 2022. He also co-authored the officially licensed book Star Wars Battles that Changed the Galaxy (2021) published by DK. Dr Kempshall is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2022-2024)

Colonel Matthew Ketterer (Matt) was born in Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire and was educated at Ipswich School in Suffolk. Following a BA (Hons) in Russian & Serbian from the University of Nottingham, he commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and into the Educational & Training Services (ETS) in December 2000. Most recent appointments include Command of East Midlands OTC and ETS (South); Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Interior (Afghanistan); NATO’s Head of the Professional Military Education and Training Division in Iraq; and DACOS Education/Branch Colonel for the ETS.

Matt is currently Head of Profession for the ETS and is on full-time Arabic language training in preparation for his Defence Attaché deployment to North Africa.  Matt is a qualified teacher, CELTA trained, has an MSc in Training Management & Consultancy, an MA in Defence Studies and completed a Fellowship at The University of Oxford in 2022.  He has a personal and professional interest in leadership development and character education and considers himself extremely lucky to have spent a career principally employed to make others better.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2023-2025)

Captain Simon Lash enlisted into the Army in 1996 as a soldier in the Adjutant General’s Corps. In Oct 2019 he was selected for commission, commissioning in Dec 2020. A leadership enthusiast he delivered Command, Leadership and Management Training to newly promoted NCO’s and has written leadership insights on Followership and Coaching as a Leader. He is a co-founder of the Staff and Personnel Support’s Coaching and Mentoring Network which has the aim of promoting coaching and mentoring throughout the Branch.

So far, the Network has created over 50 mentoring pairings, delivered briefs over the UK and established a reward and recognition scheme for coaching and mentoring. Capt Lash is a keen military historian, specialising in the War of 1812 and Normandy, in particular the work of the Royal Army Pay Corps. Capt Lash’s philosophies are leadership flows through followership and providing practical advice on applying leadership at the team level.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2023-2025)

Dr Gabriel Morin is Associate Professor in leadership development. His research focuses on the development of leaders and leadership from an individual and organisational perspective. He holds a doctorate in management science from Paris Panthéon-Assas University on the making of leaders and leadership, for which he was awarded 5 prizes, and has 20 years' professional experience in finance and HR, including 7 years as a partner at KPMG Paris. Program Director for the Master 2 International Human Resources Management (Ciffop) at Paris Panthéon-Assas, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Army Leadership Research Institute, Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst (British Army), lecturer for the French Armed forces (Gendarmerie Officers School of Melun, Ecole Militaire) and for several institutions (HEC, Ecole Polytechnique, Dauphine Executive Education programmes), researcher for the war studies and culture programme at the Centre for Doctrine and Command Teaching (French Army), lecturer expert for the APM (French Association for Management Development).

He co-created and runs the “Strategy, Leadership and Leadership” certificate at Dauphine Executive Education in partnership with the Ecole de guerre, and also founded and runs The Leadership Fabric. His last research concerns “Toward a theory of potency, power and function leadership”, published at RIPCO with Pr. Stokes.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2022-2024)

Dr Tess Morris-Paterson BSc MSc PhD CSci. Dr Tess Morris-Paterson is a chartered scientist who started her career in elite and professional sport. This included the Premier League, Women’s Super League, Formula One, tennis and golf, before the role of head of performance in Olympic and Paralympic sport. Tess transferred this experience to astronauts, where she studied the human effects of microgravity for her doctorate. This led her to work at NASA GeneLab, who investigate space-related genetic changes, and International Space University. She now has a business that specialises in the selection of astronauts, and is a Reservist Officer in 135 Geographic Sqn (42 Engineer Regiment).

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2023-2025)

Major Gav Paton OBE is Department Vice Chair for the Department of Command leadership, Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. Paton joined the Light Infantry in 1997. He has served operationally in Belfast, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan and has exercised globally. Paton is committed to training the future generations of both soldiers and officers at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick, and through two tours at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Paton was the RSM of 3 RIFLES, selected to be the first British student at the US Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, Texas in 2016, was commissioned into the RIFLES in 2017, was the first Field Army Sergeant Major, and the second Sergeant Major of the British Army. In 2021 Paton attended ICSC(L) before returning to Fort Bliss, to serve the Department of Command Leadership and be the first British instructor in over 40 years. In June 2023, Paton was selected to be the first international Vice Chair of the Department.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2022-2024)

Dr Alexandra Thorp graduated from Canterbury Christ-Church University with a BA(Ed) Hons in English and primary education in 1996. She progressed to headship within five years and enjoyed a successful 20-year career as a headteacher. Much of this career was spent working for Service Children’s Education overseas, with postings in Germany, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands. During this time, Alexandra worked with military leaders and members of the civilian command, building her knowledge of leadership across a wide range of fields.

After receiving a MA (Ed) with distinction in leadership and management, Alexandra continued to develop her interest and expertise in leadership development. She has delivered lectures and seminars on effective leadership including the development of women in leadership roles. In 2021, she completed a Professional Doctorate with a focus on the impact of gender on leadership identity and career progression. Alexandra’s research looked at the social conditioning of individuals and how gender performativity impacts on leadership identity at all levels.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2023-2025)

Donna Verdi is a highly accomplished Head of Talent and Development; Chartered Fellow of CIPD and LPI. She has worked for 23 years within the financial services industry spearheading successful initiatives to drive organizational effectiveness, leadership development, talent management and cultural transformation. She has successfully collaborated with strategic partners, influenced senior leaders and led diverse teams to produce impactful, leadership, management and cultural transformation programmes that drive a long-term leadership and organisational impact.

Her most recent leadership development programme was recognised for a gold award in Leadership Development by Brandon Hall.  She is an accredited MBTI, Hogan and Insights practioner.

CAL Senior Research Fellow (2023-2025)

Mary Hunter obtained her Master of Theology degree at the University of St Andrews, where she completed her dissertation on the Pakistani Taliban.

She is now undertaking a PhD at the same university on the Islamisation of Pakistan and the consequences for religious minorities and the role of religious leadership.

Besides this, she writes regularly for Pakistani newspapers and think tanks on a broader range of topics relating to South Asian countries and their diasporas in the UK.

CAL Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2024)

Scott Sherriff is a PhD student at The University of Buckingham. He also works as a Strategic Planning and Insights Manager for The Open University. His current research focuses on British generalship. Previously, as an Ondaatje Scholar, Scott researched Britain’s intervention in South Russia, 1918-21, which was recently converted into a journal article and published by RUSI.

Sherriff holds a BA in History with Politics and an MA in Military History; both from The University of Buckingham. Scott previously served in the Royal Navy on-board Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender. He is married with one child and is a keen sportsman, having previously played Rugby Union on a regular basis, but still enjoys the occasional run-out.

CAL Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2024)