Who's Who

The Cambridge Union Society is an organisation that was founded and is headed by students. Each term is planned and carried out by a mixture of elected and appointed officers, with support from the organisation's staff and trustees.

Standing Committee

Officers

• President

  Joel Fenster
  Selwyn

  president@cus.org

  The President serves as the Chairman of the Standing Committee, debates and Members' Business Meetings. He or she is responsible for organising a programme of debates and overseeing the planning of other events during his or her term in office. He or she is also the head of the Society and overall responsibility lies with him or her.

• Vice-President

  Alex Forzani
   vicepresident@cus.org

  The Vice-President is appointed by Standing Committee at the end of Michaelmas, and is responsible for the long-term direction of the Society. They rank as second-in-command behind the President, and facilitate the work of the termly Presidents, including assisting the handover between termly Officers, and inviting high-profile speakers well in advance. The Vice-President also works heavily with the Bursar as well as the student Officers.

• Executive Officer

   

  Emily Gittins
  Magdalene
  executive@cus.org

   

  The Executive Officer is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Standing Committee and fulfils a general facilitation role between other Committee members. The Executive Officer chairs the President's Committee of College Representatives, and can be designated roles or assigned specific responsibilities according to the needs of each particular term.

• Speakers Officer

  Imogen Schon
  Murray Edwards
  speakers@cus.org

   

  The Speakers Officer is responsible for organising the programme of individual guest speaker meetings for his or her term in office.

• Treasurer

  Daniel Hyman
  Sidney Sussex
  treasurer@cus.org

  The Treasurer is responsible for raising sponsorship funds for his or her term in office, obtaining local business discounts for members and directing the Society's merchandising operations. (The responsibility for managing the Society's finances lies with the Bursar and the Accounts Manager.)

• Social Events Officer

  Lucy Lassman
  Trinity 

  ents@cus.org

   

  The Social Events Officer is responsible for organising a programme of social events for their term including balls, parties, food and drink tastings, garden parties and musical events.

• Debating Officers

  Will Thong
  Magdalene
  Ali Roweth
  Downing 

  debating@cus.org

  The Debating Officers are two positions appointed by Standing Committee at the end of Lent Term. They are in charge of the debating side of the Union, co-ordinating the entry and selection of teams to debating competitions, as well as training members in debating. They also take a leading role in running the Schools' Debating Competition every year. These Officers have significant experience in university competitive debating and specific organisational experience in competitive debating prior to their appointment.

Officers-Elect

In order to give our officers enough time to plan their term, all of the termly officerships are elected a term in advance and serve for a term as officers-elect. This enables them to become familiar with their role, work with their immediate predecessor and to plan effectively for their own time in office. The President-elect, flanked by two officers-elect, presides over the emergency debates that precede main debates.

• President-Elect

  Joanna Mobed
  Murray Edwards 

  president-elect@cus.org

   

• Executive Officer-Elect

   TBC

  -
  executive-elect@cus.org

   

• Speakers Officer-Elect

  Oliver Jackson
  Christ's
  speakers-elect@cus.org

   

• Treasurer-Elect

  Michael Dunn-Goekjian
  Trinity

  treasurer-elect@cus.org

• Social Events Officer-Elect

  TBC

  - 

  ents-elect@cus.org

Appointed positions

• Secretary

   

  Ellen Powell
  Christ's
  secretary@cus.org

   

  The Secretary is responsible for minuting all debates, emergency debates, Standing Committee, Open and General Meetings. They also write the weekly emails.

• Head of Events Management

   

  Clara Spera
  Gonville & Caius 

  hoem@cus.org

   

  The HoEM is in charge of running the Society's events, by managing and encouraging stewards to work on events. The HoEM is a permanent invitee of Standing Committee, where they advise on the logistics of event running.

• Head of Online Publicity

   

  Ian Cooper

  Selwyn

  publicity@cus.org

   

  The Head of Online Publicity is responsible for all online publicity (with the exception of the weekly email) managing our presence on Facebook and Twitter and disseminating online publicity through things like email lists. They are also responsible for paper publicity, working with the Head of Design to create the posters for the term, and then ensuring posters and termcards reach colleges and faculties.

• Head of Press

•  

  Joanne Stewart
  Newnham

  pressofficer@cus.org

   

  The Head of Press is in charge of the Society's presentation to student, local and national press. The Head of Press works directly with the President to co-ordinate our approach to the media.

• Deputy Head of Press

  Zuzanna Grześkiewicz, Selwyn

• The Head of Press is in charge of the Society's presentation to student, local and national press. The Head of Press works directly with the President to co-ordinate our approach to the media.

• Senior Guest Liaisons

  Thomas Earl
  Downing 

  James Hutt
  Peterhouse 

  Guest Liaisons are responsible for looking after guests for debates and speaker meetings, accompanying our high-profile speakers to and from the Society, dining with them, and generally ensuring they have a good time. They are managed by a Senior GLA, who is also appointed by Standing Committee.

• Heads of Recruitment

  Tim Squirrell
  Churchill
  Stephanie Tan
  Caius 

  recruitment@cus.org

  This is an annual role appointed at the end of Michaelmas; the Head of Recruitment is responsible for co-ordinating our outreach and recruitment efforts. This runs annually but the obvious and main focus is Fresher's Week. The Head of Recruitment may manage their own budget and work closely with the Vice-President and other Officers, as well as the Bursar, to perform their duties.

• Heads of Audio-Visual 

•  -

  This is a technical position responsible for filming and recording the debates and speaker events.

Supplementary Committee

Members of the Supplementary Committee assist the officers with their duties. Currently, six positions are elected each term. As its members help officers as well as officers-elect to perform their duties, those elected to the Supplementary Committee serve for only the term immediately succeeding their election, without an additional term's preparation.

Krista Lankela, Anglia Ruskin University
Rachael Tookey, Trinity
Nick Wright, Trinity
Rupert Cabbell-Manners, Trinity
Ted Loveday, Caius

Review Committee

• Dr. Peter Abbott (ex-officio President, Michaelmas 2000) (Chair)
• Sam Block (ex-officio Director of Debating, 2007-2008)
• Joshua Blanchard-Lewis (ex-officio Secretary & Vice-President, 2008-2009)
• Julien Domercq (ex-officio President, Michaelmas 2009)
• Jan-Jonathan Bock (ex-officio Senior Committee Member, Michaelmas 2009)
• Rahul Mansigani (ex-officio Treasurer, Easter 2010)
• Albert Beardow (ex-officio Speakers Officer, Easter 2011)

Board of Trustees

• Sir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE (Chairman)
• Dr Nigel Brown OBE
• Mr Andy Swarbrick FCA
• Dr Nigel Yandell
• Mr Nick Heath FRICS
• The Hon Daniel Janner QC
• Janet Turner QC
• Austin Mahler, President Michaelmas 2012

Staff

• Colonel William Bailey, Bursar
• Dr David Sellick, Accountant 
• Michelle Casperz, Office Supervisor
• Patrick Hanwell, Site Supervisor 
• James Aldridge FBII, Bar and Events Manager 
• Joseph Burman, Events Administrator 
• Veronika Misinska, Coffee Shop Manager