Dr Richard Armour
- Job title
- Co-opted by the Court
- Qualifications
- MA, MSc, PhD
Richard Armour MA MSc PhD JP is a graduate of the Universities of Glasgow and London. He has spent most of his career in universities, initially in the UK but predominantly in the higher education sector overseas, mainly in Hong Kong but also briefly in Australia, in both faculty and senior administrative roles. His academic interests have centred on research methodologies and modes of learning enquiry across various disciplines.
His most recent full time appointments (from 2008) were as Secretary General (chief executive officer) of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee (UGC) and prior to that, Senior Advisor to the President and Chief of Staff at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Hong Kong’s UGC is the government department responsible for the overall funding, planning and quality assurance of the main university and college sector.
On return to the UK in 2019, he has been very active in a consultancy role, pursuing assignments for clients, including the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as well as various universities and public bodies in Hong Kong, the UK, the European Union and the Middle East. He also continues to serve the Hong Kong government as a member of several UGC policy committees.
From its inception in 2018 until 2023, he served as member of the council of Research England (a constituent research funding council of UKRI). Richard was appointed as a Justice of the Peace by the Hong Kong government with effect from 2012 and he continues to serve in a similar capacity, sitting on the North Yorkshire bench as a Justice of the Peace in England. He is both a British and Australian citizen as well as a Permanent Resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He was appointed as a Global Scot in 2016.
Richard is married to Suzanne Davies and they have four children and five grandchildren. They now live in Harrogate.
As well as Court, Richard is a member of:
- Global College Partnership Oversight Group (Chair)
- Audit and Risk Committee
- Heriot-Watt Malaysia Board