Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Oxfordshire based Director operating in the Association space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Wes Armour
Director of University of Oxford
Wes Armour is associate director at the Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC). He leads the scientific computing group at OeRC, which has around 10 members. Wes’ grant portfolio spans a range of different funders, reflecting the interdisciplinary projects that the group is involved with. His research interests are strongly focused in scientific computing, specifically the use of HPC and many-core technologies to answer scientific problems or to impact people’s daily lives. Wes’ work focuses are modeling and simulation, digital signal processing, HPC/many-core and real-time computing for big data/data science. Wes has a Master’s of Physics in fundamental particle physics and cosmology and a Ph.D. in lattice gauge theory, the computational description of the strong nuclear force.
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About University of Oxford: Oxford is a world-leading centre of learning, teaching and research and the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
Trudie Lang
Director, The Global Health Network of University of Oxford
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About University of Oxford: Oxford is a world-leading centre of learning, teaching and research and the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
Nick Bostrom
Director of University of Oxford
Nick Bostrom is Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University. He is the founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute, a multidisciplinary research center which enables a few exceptional mathematicians, philosophers, and scientists to think carefully about global priorities and big questions for humanity. Nick has a background in physics, computational neuroscience, and mathematical logic as well as philosophy. He is the author of some 200 publications, including Anthropic Bias (Routledge, 2002), Global Catastrophic Risks (ed., OUP, 2008), Human Enhancement (ed., OUP, 2009), and the academic book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (OUP, 2014), which became a New York Times bestseller. He is best known for his work in five areas: (i) existential risk; (ii) the simulation argument; (iii) anthropics (developing the first mathematically explicit theory of observation selection effects); (iv) impacts of future technology; and (v) implications of consequentialism for global strategy. He is recipient of a Eugene R. Gannon Award (one person selected annually worldwide from the fields of philosophy, mathematics, the arts and other humanities, and the natural sciences). He has been listed on Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers list; and he was included on Prospect magazine’s World Thinkers list, the youngest person in the top 15 from all fields and the highest-ranked analytic philosopher. His writings have been translated into 24 languages. There have been more than 100 translations and reprints of his works.
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About University of Oxford: Oxford is a world-leading centre of learning, teaching and research and the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
Jonathan Lusthaus
Director of The Human Cybercriminal Project at the Extra-Legal Governance Institute of University of Oxford
Jonathan Lusthaus is Director of The Human Cybercriminal Project in the Department of Sociology, University of Oxford. His research focusses on the “human” side of profit-driven cybercrime: who cybercriminals are and how they are organised. In particular, he is interested in issues of trust, cooperation and governance. Jonathan has recently completed a seven year global study on the organisation of cybercrime to be published by Harvard University Press. As part of this research, he has travelled to cybercrime hotspots around the globe and conducted almost 250 interviews with law enforcement, the private sector and former cybercriminals. Jonathan holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Oxford, where he was a Clarendon Scholar.
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About University of Oxford: Oxford is a world-leading centre of learning, teaching and research and the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
Jonathan Lusthaus
Director of The Human Cybercriminal Project at the Extra-Legal Governance Institute of University of Oxford
Jonathan Lusthaus is Director of The Human Cybercriminal Project in the Department of Sociology, University of Oxford. His research focusses on the “human” side of profit-driven cybercrime: who cybercriminals are and how they are organised. In particular, he is interested in issues of trust, cooperation and governance. Jonathan has recently completed a seven year global study on the organisation of cybercrime to be published by Harvard University Press. As part of this research, he has travelled to cybercrime hotspots around the globe and conducted almost 250 interviews with law enforcement, the private sector and former cybercriminals. Jonathan holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Oxford, where he was a Clarendon Scholar.
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About University of Oxford: Oxford is a world-leading centre of learning, teaching and research and the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
Benjamin Todd
CEO, Co Founder & Executive Director of 80,000 Hours
In under three years with Ben’s leadership, 80,000 Hours has grown from a student society, to an Oxford affiliated charity, featured on TED, the Washington Post, the BBC Today Programme and more. Ben has a 1st from Oxford in Physics and Philosophy, has published in Climate Physics and speaks Chinese. Before 80,000 Hours, he was the first undergraduate to intern as an analyst at a top investment fund. Rather than taking the job, he persuaded the Chairman to donate £60,000 to 80,000 Hours.
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About 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is an evidence-based advice on careers that make a difference.
Robert Wiblin
Director of Research of 80,000 Hours
Rob won a scholarship to study genetics and economics at the Australian National University, graduating top of his class and being named Young Alumnus of the Year in 2015. He worked as a research economist in various Australian Government agencies, before moving to the UK to work at the Centre for Effective Altruism, where he was Research Director and then Executive Director, before moving to 80,000 Hours. He was also a founding board member of Animal Charity Evaluators and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community.
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About 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is an evidence-based advice on careers that make a difference.
Niel Bowerman
Director of One-on-one Programme and Job Board of 80,000 Hours
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About 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is an evidence-based advice on careers that make a difference.
Morten Schmidt
Director of Programmes and Grants of Laureus Foundation
Dr. Morten Schmidt is Head of Strategic Partnerships in Oxfam Great Britain, which is part of the wider Oxfam confederation, and a specialist in programme and business development in the international development sector. Oxfam works in 70+ countries, providing humanitarian relief and supporting communities in working their way out of poverty. He has a diverse background in both research and as a development practitioner over the past 20 years, working with partners ranging from local community organisations in Latin America, Africa and Asia to government agencies, UN organisations, international development banks and multinational companies. He has been with Oxfam since 2010, and has held leading positions in Diakonia Sweden and IBIS Denmark. He is also the founder and Chair of Global Knowledge Brokers Ltd and co-founder of El Chocolatal Golf Eco Resort.
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About Laureus Foundation: Tackles issues such as gang violence, lack of education, racial intolerance, and HIV/AIDS.
Shaheen Chughtai
Regional Advocacy & Campaigns Director of Save the Children International
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About Save the Children International: Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children.
Winnie Byanyima
Executive Director of Oxfam International
Winnie Byanyima is Executive Director of Oxfam International. She is a leader on women’s rights, democratic governance and peace building. She served eleven years in the Ugandan Parliament, and has served at the African Union Commission and as Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Program. She co-founded the 60-member Global Gender and Climate Alliance and chaired a UN task force on gender aspects of the Millennium Development Goals, and on climate change. Born in Uganda, Ms. Byanyima was elected for three terms and served eleven years in the Ugandan Parliament. She led Uganda’s first parliamentary women’s caucus, championing ground-breaking gender equality provisions in the county’s 1995 post-conflict constitution. A world recognized expert on women’s rights, she founded the still-thriving civil society organization Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE). She has served at the African Union Commission and as Director of Gender and Development at the United Nations Development Program. Ms. Byanyima is a signatory to her country’s 1985 peace agreement and has helped to broker and support women’s participation in peace processes in Rwanda, South Africa, Burundi, Sudan and other countries emerging from conflict. She co-founded a 60-member Global Gender and Climate Alliance of civil society, bilateral and multilateral organizations and chaired a UN-wide task force on gender aspects of the Millennium Development Goals, and on climate change. She has served on numerous global boards and commissions including the African Capacity Building Foundation and the International Centre for Research on Women. She holds a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering in Energy Conservation and the Environment (University of Cranfield), and a B.Sc. in Aeronautical Engineering (University of Manchester). She began a five-year term leading Oxfam International on May 1 2013.
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About Oxfam International: Oxfam is a world-wide development organization that mobilizes the power of people against poverty.
