From 1981 until 2005 Professor Gillian Stamp was the Director of the Brunel Institute of Organisation and Social Studies (Bioss) a self-financing research institute founded at Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK forty years ago. Bioss is a community of daughter institutes with a presence in twenty two countries across the world. Its focus is on ‘making work a better place to be’. Bioss the Foundation is responsible for research and development.

Gillian now works in the private, public, religious, military and social enterprise sectors on governance, leadership, strategy, decision-making in uncertainty and the development of people.

She is the author of Career Path Appreciation© - a procedure to evaluate the way people make decisions in the face of uncertainty; of The Tripod of Work© - a model of the conditions in which people at work can be confident and competent, of The Four Journeys© - a way of thinking about the balance between work, private life and personal development; of Knowledge Appreciation© – a human approach to knowledge management and co author (with Lorraine Dodd) of Staged Appreciation© – a framework for supporting people and institutions as they open eyes, ears and minds.

She was a member of the Council of St George’s House for seven years and has been a Fellow of the Windsor Leadership Trust since 2001. She was a member of the Board of the UK National School of Government for three years and is a member of the Sunningdale Institute.

Her advisory roles have included the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, the Scottish Government, the National Defence University in Washington DC, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, HMRC, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Employers’ Forum for Disability, the Community Action Network, the Bank of England.

Her work with commercial concerns covers a wide spectrum that includes ICI, BP, BAA, Rio Tinto, the Prudential, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Lazard, Unilever, Permira, Laing O’Rourke, Borsodchem, Bayer and Anglo American.

Gillian was married to Colin for more than forty years; they have two sons and five grandchildren.