Heather Tewkesbury joined the Smith Institute in 2001 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2017. She has been a member of the Board since 2010 and prior to her current role was Business Development Director from 2006.
Heather has a PhD in modelling heat transfer in chocolate manufacture from the University of Birmingham. She is a Chartered Mathematician, Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, has been a member of Advisory Boards for Warwick and Bristol Universities and various European initiatives, and was an impact assessor for the 2014 and 2021 HEFCE Research Excellence Frameworks.
Outside of work, Heather enjoys wild swimming in all weathers and is competing at the winter swimming World Championships in lake Bled, Slovenia in 2023.