16
Inspiring alumni
We always love to hear about what our alumni have gone on to do with their lives
and careers since leaving Keele. The range of diverse and interesting activities is
not only inspiring to fellow alumni, but also aspirational for our current students.
Having graduated from Keele
University in 1984 with a
First Class Honours Degree in
International Relations, Mark
Evans OBE is now Deputy Chief
Executive of Service Delivery
at New Zealand Police and has
been playing an important role in
managing the country’s response
to Covid-19.
I studied International Relations
at Keele between 1980-1984
and graduated with First Class
Honours. The first year consisted of
a Foundation Year which was really
valuable and a great basis to build
upon in the subsequent years of my
course. The subject of International
Relations was really interesting to me
as my father worked in Libya when
I was young so I spent a lot of my
school holidays there. The department
at Keele had a really good reputation
and I recall the University as being a
really fantastic place to study.
I particularly enjoyed the campus feel
and visited quite a lot before I started
my course. When I was at university, I
remember we travelled quite a lot, such
as to North Wales, to Anfield to watch
football, and various other places. I
am a keen Swansea City and Welsh
Rugby fan so it was not surprising
that I played quite a bit of sport too. I
lived in Lindsay Block C overlooking
the fields and I am still in touch with
some of the people I shared a corridor
with - it really is true that some of the
friendships you make at university can
last a lifetime.
When I first left Keele I applied to
work for a firm of accountants which
was not right for me and was quite
short-lived. I then went on to get some
part time jobs before I applied for and
was successful for a job in defence
intelligence at the Ministry of Defence
in London. This was where I started
my career in intelligence and I have
had that as a professional anchor for
quite a long time. For the last 10 years
I have taught intelligence at University
College London where I am a Visiting
Professor.
I later moved to Belfast where I was
the Director of Analytical Services in
the Northern Ireland Police Service. I
joined around the time of the signing
of the Good Friday Agreement and
established the Police Service of
Northern Ireland Analysis Centre which
was helping the police and partner
agencies to provide a better community
service whilst also tackling crime,
supporting national security events,
homicide, and serious and organised
crime. It was quite successful and over
a period of several years made quite a
big difference. In 2006 I was awarded
an OBE at Buckingham Palace for
services to policing which recognised
the team I worked with in Northern
Ireland and, I would say, off the back of
some of the things I learned at Keele.
I have worked for New Zealand
Police since my family first moved to
the country in 2008 and I have been
fortunate to have various roles from
starting out as Director of Intelligence
to now being Deputy Chief Executive
of Service Delivery.
In my current role I have been
supporting the New Zealand
Government in the Covid-19
operational response. We have a
National Crisis Management Centre
and as part of that we needed to create
an all-of-government operational
capability including a joint insights
group which has provided data,
analytics and intelligence support
to our response. I have also been
helping to enable a number of all-ofgovernment
workstreams to manage
the operational response to the
pandemic and to ensure that agencies
work effectively together to deliver
services to the New Zealand public. It
has been really interesting and quite
challenging but I think it has helped the
government manage the crisis so it has
been very professionally rewarding.
Keele definitely helped me to get
where I am today. Back in 1980,
moving away from home to go to
university was a big thing as there
weren’t any computers, the internet or
smartphones, so it really did help me
to become self-sufficient. I remember
the opportunity to be around teachers
and other students with whom I had
a shared interest was really enriching
too. Being awarded a First Class
Honours degree has been incredibly
helpful in applying for jobs and I still
use some of the information I Iearnt in
the eighties today. Keele was a great
start for me and helped me enormously
to do what I wanted to do in my career.
My advice to students now would be
to be ambitious about what you can
achieve and don’t be afraid to make
decisions. I know it can seem quite
daunting and I made the mistake of
applying for the wrong job when I
first left university. Ultimately this was
beneficial as it taught me what I didn’t
want to do and I made the choice to
pursue a career that was better suited
for me.
Keele alumnus Tom Rye-Weller
has held a variety of roles since