On 1 October 2009 Martin Bean became The Open University's fifth Vice-Chancellor.
Martin Bean was General Manager within the Education Products Group at the Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington. Having held senior executive positions in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe, and with more than 20 years in training and education, Martin Bean is a recognized industry leader around the world. He has held executive management roles in leading organisations, including Novell Inc., Sylvan Learning Systems and Thomson Learning.
Martin Bean is actively involved in the advancement of education policy and the reform of education to meet the needs of today's workforce. He has presented to the U.S. Senate on the importance of IT in the Workforce Investment Act and testified on behalf of the Workforce Coalition before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Committee on Ways and Means. He has established and managed complex, multi-stakeholder partnerships in public, private and not-for-profit organisations and has a track record of growing or reinventing complex enterprises.
Prior to moving to the UK Martin Bean was a member of the National Board of Directors of Jobs for Americas Graduates and was a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Computing Technology Industry Association, chairing its Public Policy Committee, 2002 – 2004. In 1986-7 he was President of AIESEC International, (Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales) the international, not-for-profit organisation run by students and recent graduates which is “an agent of positive change through education and cultural exchange to develop a broader understanding of cultural, socio-economic and business management issues.” (Kofi Anan)
An Australian by birth, Bean holds a Bachelor’s degree in Adult Education from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and now lives in Salford, Buckinghamshire with his wife and three daughters.
