Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Sutton Trust announced today the appointment of the Trust’s first Chief Executive, Dr Lee Elliot Major, who is Director of Development and Policy at the Trust.

Sir Peter said: “With the unprecedented growth in the Trust’s programmes and research and our ambitious plans we felt that this is an opportune time to appoint a Chief Executive to position ourselves for future growth. I am delighted that Lee will be Chief Executive. I shall remain Executive Chairman. Lee has gained a wealth of experience over the last eight years on different areas of the Trust’s work and has done a terrific job leading our development activities.”

Dr Lee Elliot Major said: “I am incredibly honoured to take on this role. Driven by Peter’s inspirational leadership and financial commitment, the Sutton Trust has become a national institution, transforming the educational prospects of hundreds of thousands of young people. I’m really looking forward to working with Peter and the superb team at the Trust.”

Lee is also a trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation, and chairs its evaluation advisory board. He has served on a number of Government advisory bodies on social mobility and education. He is an adviser to the Office for Fair Access, and sits on the Social Mobility Transparency Board. He was previously an education journalist, working for the Guardian and Times Higher Education Supplement.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Sutton Trust is a foundation set up in 1997, dedicated to improving social mobility through education. It has published over 140 research studies and funded and evaluated programmes that have helped hundreds of thousands of young people of all ages, from early years through to access to the professions.

2. The Education Endowment Foundation is a charity set up in 2011 by the Sutton Trust as lead foundation in partnership with Impetus Trust, with a Department for Education grant of £125m. It is dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement through evidence-based research. Since its launch the EEF has awarded £52 million to 93 projects working with over 630,000 pupils in over 4,500 schools across England.