Our People

Our Board of Governors

• Chair
  Professor Russell Morris
  

  Professor of Chemistry – University of St Andrews

  Professor Morris is currently Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Chemistry at St Andrews. He also holds a joint position at the Charles University in Prague. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW), and the Academia Europaea (MAE). He has been a Governor at Dollar Academy since 2000.

• Vice Chair
  Ms Jaqueline Smith
  

  Director of FIDA

  After winning a scholarship to Dollar, Jacqueline Smith went on to study at Oxford. She has been an Executive Producer at BBC Television, making factual programmes such as ‘Horizon’ and ‘Trust Me, I’m a Doctor’. Her work has reached audiences that number in the millions and has won several awards, including BAFTA and RTS. She was the founder and director of an independent video and events production company. She joined the Board in 2009 and is currently the Vice-Chair, in addition to being Director of FIDA.

• Governors
  Mr Gregor Alexander
  

  Chartered Accountant & Company Director

  Gregor was Finance Director of the energy company SSE plc for twenty one years, and retired from the SSE Board in November 2023 after thirty three years with the company. As well as being an FP boarder, both his children attended Dollar Academy, as day pupils. He is currently Chair of SSEN Transmission and a Non-Executive Director of Neos Networks. Gregor joined the Board in November 2024.

  Mrs Doreen Burt
  

  Health Professional

  Mrs Burt’s early career was as a Physical Therapist specialising in severe neurological trauma. Latterly, she was a co-founder of an expert witness company. She was, for a time, the DAPA representative and has insight, as a parent, of both the day and the boarding experience at Dollar. As a health professional her focus has been the promotion of wellbeing. She joined the Board in 2002.

  Mr Denis Coyne
  

  Councillor – Clackmannanshire Council

  Formerly the Commercial & Marketing Director at Maclay & Co Ltd in Alloa, Denis has been a self-employed business consultant for the last 20 years. A former chairman of DAPA, he was recently elected as a councillor for Clackmannanshire East. He joined the Board in December 2020.

  Mr Paul Dearden
  

  Prior to retirement in 2020, Mr Dearden worked as a Senior Manager with a 40-year career in Financial Services. Specialising in Audit, Risk Management and Sensitive Investigations Mr Dearden worked closely with Regulators and Law Enforcement both in the UK and overseas. Family connections at Dollar provide him with a clear understanding of the school and its ethos. He joined the Board in November 2021.

  Mrs Catherine Gladwin
  

  Company Director

  Mrs Gladwin is the Managing Director of a start up company helping people with memory issues stay safe, and is also involved in cancer research support.  She originally trained in hospitality and has worked in several different industries. Mrs Gladwin is currently the Session Clerk for Dollar Parish Church, and joined the Board in 2019.

  Mrs Elizabeth Heath
  

  Yoga Instructor

  Mrs Heath has worked mainly in finance and IT project management and in both the private and public sectors. She joined the Board in 2015.

  Mr Ross Kitson
  

  Retail Manager

  Mr Kitson was Head of House, McNabb Boarding House, during his time at Dollar. He joined the Board in 2017.

  Dr Suzanne Mawson
  

  Reader in Entrepreneurship

  Dr Mawson is a Reader in Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde, with a special interest in developing entrepreneurial skills for young people through educational programming and training. She joined Dollar Academy’s Board of Governors in November 2024.

  Mrs Shirley McIntosh
  

  Chartered Accountant & Chartered Tax Adviser

  Mrs McIntosh is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser with over 30 years’ experience in private practice. She is currently a partner and Head of Tax for Scotland with a top 10 UK Accountancy practice. A graduate of Edinburgh University, she also has an international sporting background and was awarded an MBE for services to sport in 1995. She joined the Board in 2019.

  Mrs Seonaid Mustard
  

  Teacher

  After training as a primary teacher, Mrs Mustard settled in Morayshire where her husband farms. Alongside her involvement in the family business, she has wide experience of teaching in both the state and independent sectors. She joined Dollar Academy’s Board of Governors in 2020.

  Mr Mike Robins
  

  Chartered Accountant, Financial Investor & Adviser

  After university, where he studied Economics, Mike qualified as a Chartered Accountant and then had a seventeen-year career in the private equity industry with 3i Group plc as an investor and manager. In 2010, he became an independent company investor, Board member, and adviser to a number of SMEs in a variety of industrial sectors. All three of Mike’s children have attended Dollar Academy from Prep 1 to Form VI. Mike joined the Board in November 2024.

  Mrs Debbie Weir
  

  Health Professional

  Mrs Weir is a former oncology and radiotherapy specialist. She has had a long-standing association with the school, as a parent, and was first appointed to the Board in 2011 as the Dollar Academy Parents Association elected Governor. She was re-appointed in 2019 as an Adviser, and then as  a Governor in May 2023.