Major General Nick Cowley OBE
Commandant Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and President of Trustees

Major General Cowley commissioned into the Queen's Royal Hussars in 2000, serving in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. He subsequently commanded the QRH and 16 Air Assault Brigade before being appointed Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2024.

David Rutherford-Jones CB
Chair of Trustees and Former Commandant

A soldier for 34 years, RJ commanded The Light Dragoons, 20 Brigade and Sandhurst, with operational service in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. He retired as Military Secretary in 2011 before leading Morden College as CEO, guiding staff and residents through the pandemic, until 2023.

Patrick Smith
Deputy Chair of Trustees

After a short service commission in the Royal Green Jackets, Patrick worked internationally with De La Rue on government ID and election projects. On joining Accenture and later Capita, he led on major technology and outsourcing projects with the UK government. Since 2016, he been a board-level adviser and coach as well as a Visiting Fellow at Henley Business School.

Brigadier Nick Wight-Boycott OBE
Commander Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Trustee

Commissioning into the Royal Scots in 1997, Nick deployed on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan before commanding 1 SCOTS. He subsequently served in the MOD, PJHQ and the Royal College of Defence Studies, promoting to Brigadier in 2023. He is the first Commander of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Jay Bartlett
Trustee

Jay served over 30 years in the British Army, finishing as an instructor at RMAS, before moving into higher education. He now leads Technical Services for Newcastle University's Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, and is a Chartered Manager, CMI Fellow and MBA graduate with Distinction.

Mark Boullé
Trustee

Senior Legal Counsel at a civil engineering company in Oxfordshire, Mark joined the Sandhurst Trust Board in 2025. Without a military background himself, he brings an outsider's enthusiasm and a lawyer's rigour, and describes being part of the Trust as a genuinely fascinating experience.

Linzi Blakey
Trustee

An international HR executive with nearly 30 years' experience across financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy and defence, Linzi has held senior roles at Standard Chartered, GSK, Vodafone and Shell. A former Army Reserve officer cadet, she brings deep expertise in people strategy, transformation and board-level leadership.

Dr Katy Granville-Chapman
Trustee

A British Army veteran who served in Iraq, Katy holds a DPhil on Flourishing and Leadership from the University of Oxford, where she also also lectures, supervises and examines on an educational Masters programme. Katy is also Deputy Head at Wellington College. She co-founded Global Social Leaders, active in 105 countries, and has authored and co-authored several books on leadership. She is an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Character Project.

Katie Hislop
Trustee

A Royal Engineers veteran, Katie led soldiers on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and South Sudan, and served as Chief of Staff to the Government's Vaccine Taskforce during Covid-19. She now works as a project director in a global design and engineering consultancy, specialising in health, social care and defence.

David Hitchcock OBE
Trustee

David served as a Captain in the Sixth Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles, including a platoon command in Northern Ireland, before moving into finance. He spent four years in Equity Sales at Goldman Sachs and 17 years at JP Morgan as a Managing Director. He is currently Chairman of two quoted UK engineering companies and two financial services companies.

Colonel Tom Parsons MBE
Trustee

Commissioned from RMAS into the Scots Guards in 2001, Tom has spent his career on operations and training delivery worldwide. Passionate about human performance and organisational resilience, he served as Chief of Staff of the Sandhurst Group before moving to his current role as Assistant Head Personnel Strategy at Army Headquarters.

Brigadier (Retired) Ian Thomas OBE MA (OXON)
Dean of Academic Studies RMAS and Trustee

A History graduate and Gurkha officer, Ian spent 33 years commanding soldiers on operations across the Far East, Central America, the Gulf, Africa, the Balkans and Iraq, finishing as Commander British Forces in Afghanistan in 2017. He has held posts in Defence Intelligence and the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, and has been Dean of Academic Studies at RMAS since 2019.