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.

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.