RUSI Council

President

HRH The Duke of Kent

Vice-Presidents

Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham KCB BA
Lt Gen The Hon Sir Thomas Boyd-Carpenter KBE
Sir David Omand GCB
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Julian Oswald GCB
Sir David Veness CBE QPM
His Grace The Duke of Westminster KG OBE TD TL
Mr John Weston CBE

Elected

Sir Paul Lever KCMG - Chairman
Ms Margaret Aldred
Captain Simon Ancona Royal Navy
The Rt Hon James Arbuthnot MP
Ms Jane Attwood
Mr Richard Melville Ballerand FRUSI
Mr Tim Banfield
Sir Roger Bone KCMG
Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fry KCB CBE
Dr Mike Goodfellow
Mr Nik Gowing
General Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman KCB CBE ADC – Vice-Chairman
Mr John Howe CB OBE
Mr Robert Keen
Ms Mariot Leslie CMG
Vice Admiral Rory McLean
Ms Cornelia Meyer
Dr Greg Mills
Mr Geoff North
Mr Richard Norton-Taylor
Mr Stephen Phipson
Lieutenant General Jonathon Riley CB DSO PhD MA Late RWF
Professor Geoffrey Till

Ex-officios

Mr Jonathan Evans
Lieutenant General Andrew Figgures CBE
Lieutenant General Andrew Graham CBE
Rear Admiral Ronald H Henderson, Jr (American Defense Attaché)
Brigadier General Franz-Josef Nolte (German Defence Attaché)
Rear Admiral Yann Tanquiy (French Naval and Defence Attaché)
Professor Mark Welland FRS FREng

The Council and the Institute's Bye-laws

The Council shall be responsible for the management of the Institute in accordance with the Charter of Incorporation and the Bye-Laws and resolutions. The Council shall consist of the Full Council in which is embedded the Executive Council. The members of the Executive Council shall be the trustees of the Institute, (but see Para 12 below).
The Full Council shall consist of the President of the Institute and the Vice-Presidents, and elected, ex-officio and honorary members.
The Full Council shall not exceed 24 elected members nor be less than 12.
The Full Council shall meet once a year, usually after the Annual General Meeting. They may meet more often if called upon to do so by the Chairman. The Full Council shall be kept informed, and should advise, encourage and warn. They should receive all Council papers including those of the Executive Council. They may at their meetings discuss matters of longer term strategic significance to the Institute or such other matters as may be referred to them by the Executive Committee. They should invite the President to assume office, and elect the Vice Patrons, Vice Presidents, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Institute. At their annual meeting, they should receive a report from the Director on the events on the past year and plans for the year ahead and beyond. It is hoped that they should be willing, selectively, to champion the Institute, to contribute to fund-raising initiatives and where appropriate to mentor members of staff. Members of the Full Council, not members of the Executive Council, may attend Executive Council Meetings as observers.
The Executive Council shall have the full authority of Council; it is not a subordinate committee of Council. Thus the Finance and Performance Committee shall routinely report to the Executive Council. The Executive Council should meet at least three times a year, exclusive of the Full Council meeting, and may meet more frequently if the members of the Executive Council consider it appropriate. The Executive Council may refer decisions and resolutions to the AGM.
Membership of the Executive Council shall be open to all members of the Full Council. Members of the Executive Council shall be expected to commit to making every effort to attend a majority of meetings during the year (currently estimated as three out of four). The Chairman of Council and the Chairman of the Finance Committee shall be members of the Executive Council ex officio, and the Chairman of Council shall be the Chairman of the Executive Council.
The Vice-Presidents shall be elected by the Full Council, and shall not exceed 8 in number. The term of service of a Vice-President shall be 5 years which may be renewed by invitation of the Full Council.
Members of Council (elected and ex-officio) shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall be chosen from members of the Institute. With the exception of the Chairmen of Council and Committees (Paragraph 6), and ex-officio members their term of service shall be for 4 years. For ex-officio members, their term of service shall be the duration of their appointments. An elected member of Council shall not stand for re-election for one year after completing their term.
The term of service on the Council may only be extended in the case of the Chairman of the Council who may serve for a period not exceeding 3 years from the assumption of his or her appointment; the Chairman of the Finance and Performance Committee who may serve for the duration of his or her appointment; the Chairmen of any Advisory Committees who may serve for a period not exceeding 3 years from their first appointment to office, except in the case of the Director who may serve for the duration of his appointment. All shall remain as members of the Council while they serve as Chairmen.
The Chiefs of Defence of France, Germany and the United States shall usually be invited to be members of Council, to be represented by their Defence Attachés appointed to London in day to day matters. This membership shall be honorary. The Defence Attachés shall be invited to attend meetings of the Full Council and of the Executive Council as observers.
The Executive Council shall consider a list of members proposed to fill vacancies on the Council. Similarly, any member may propose another member to fill a vacancy. Proposers shall be responsible for ensuring their nominees will consent to serve if elected and for securing seconders. They should also ascertain whether their nominees would wish to serve on the Full or Executive Councils. Proposals shall be sent in writing to the Director at least 28 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting, together with brief Curricula Vitae of the nominees.
The holders of certain appointments may be nominated for election to Council, and may serve on Council "ex-officio" whilst holding their appointment. Ex-officio members of Council shall not be trustees of the Institute, even if members of the Executive Council.
The names of candidates and of the members proposing and seconding them shall be posted by the Director on the notice board in the entrance hall of the Institute's premises at least 14 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting.
Elections to the Council from the list of candidates shall rest with the members present and entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting. In the event of there being more candidates than vacancies on the Council, the election shall be by ballot.

Vacancies on the Council and the Vacation of Seats

The duty of filling vacancies on the Council occurring between Annual General Meetings shall devolve on to the Executive Council, providing that any vacancy occurring after 31 December, shall remain unfilled until the next Annual General Meeting. Any member so co-opted by Council shall stand for election at the next Annual General Meeting.
Any member of the Executive Council who is unable to attend more than two consecutive meetings of Council shall forfeit his/her seat on the Executive Council, unless the Full Council decides, in exceptional circumstances, to invite the member to retain his/her seat. A member of Council who shall anticipate being unable to attend meetings for a period of one year or more, may, on application, defer his/her membership for the anticipated period of absence.