Eleri Jones
Eleri Jones was born in Oswestry in Shropshire and grew up in Shropshire until she moved to Wiltshire at the age of ten. In 1972 she went to university in Cardiff at UWIST to do a degree in applied science (applied biology with pure and applied chemistry). She graduated in 1975 and moved on to the University of London to do an MSc in analytical chemistry before returning in 1976 to UWIST to do a PhD in nutritional biochemistry. Eleri has lived in Cardiff since 1976. In September 1985 she married Ron Williams and their son, Geraint, was born in September 1986. Eleri speaks English, Welsh, a smattering of French and is learning Arabic.
Eleri works at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) in the Cardiff School of Management. Her day job focuses on tourism development and requires extensive international travelling as a result of the significant amount of institutional networking that her role involves. She has developed relationships with universities in Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria, Minya, Helwan, Ismailia), Oman (Sultan Qaboos University), Kenya (Moi University) and Ghana (Cape Coast). She is currently working on projects with colleagues in Libya and Lithuania. Most of these relationships focus on destination development projects. Eleri also manages a portfolio of European projects, including BESTBET, which is looking at best practice in business, conference and events tourism, and SPICE (Strategic Project for In-Company Education), which provides training to small Welsh tourism businesses. Eleri supervises a number of MPhil and PhD students at UWIC.
Eleri's involvement with the IB started in the late 1980s as an assistant examiner for the then new pilot course in design technology. She became chief examiner for design technology in the mid-1990s and was concurrently hexagon group representative for group 4 and subsequently vice-chair of the Examining Board. Since October 2004 she has been chair of the Examining Board and as a member of the Board has served on the education and finance committees. She is now chair of the education committee.
Eleri is a keen photographer and birdwatcher. She has a narrowboat – Tua'r Gorwel (Welsh, meaning “Towards the Horizon”) – which is moored on the Brecon and Monmouthshire canal at Govilon near Abergavenny in South Wales.
