Sir Brian Fender is a Bristish academic administrator. He was Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England from 1995-2001. Prior to that he was Vice-Chancellor of Keele University, Associate Director and Director of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France and Chairman of the Science Board of the UK's Science and Engineering Research Council. He is a graduate and Fellow of Imperial College. He is currently a member of the University Grants Committee, Hong Kong, President of the National Foundation for Educational Research, and a Director of Higher Aims Ltd, a private consultancy involved in higher education and research management. Sir Brian is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. He has honorary degrees or fellowships from 11 universities and colleges. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) acts on behalf of the UK Government to distribute funding to Universities and Colleges of Higher and Further Education in England since 1992. ... A Vice-Chancellor (commonly called the VC) of a university in the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and some universities in Hong Kong, is the de facto head of the university. ... Keele University is a research-intensive campus university located near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England between Manchester and Birmingham. ... Institut Laue-Langevin The Institut Laue-Langevin is an internationally-financed scientific facility, situated in Grenoble, France. ... , Grenoble (Occitan: Grasanòbol) is a city and commune in south-east France, situated at the foot of the Alps, at the confluence of the Drac into the Isère River. ... The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) used to be the UK agency in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research actvities including astronomy, biotechnology and biological sciences, space research and particle physics. ... Royal School of Mines Entrance Imperial College London is a college of the University of London which focuses on science and technology, and is located in South Kensington in London. ... The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was founded in 1946 as a centre for educational research and development in England and Wales. ... The Institute of Physics (IOP) is the United Kingdoms professional body for physicists. ... Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of advancing the chemical sciences. ... The Chartered Management Institute is a professional institution for managers, based in the United Kingdom. ...