The panel

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David Thomson

Chair of the Board

I was appointed to the Board in August 2020, taking on the role of Chair in March 2024. I am a Director of DC Thomson & Co Ltd., an international media and investment business which has had its roots in Dundee for over 100 years. My three children are all currently being educated at the High School and I am also a former pupil. I am a qualified CA, having trained with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Edinburgh. I spent 3 1/2 years in the Audit Department before moving to the Public Private partnership team and joined DC Thomson in 2003. I previously sat on the V&A Dundee Board where I chaired the Finance & Risk Committee. I currently am a trustee on the V&A Dundee Foundation. I am a non-executive on British Ice Skating and also sit on the Advisory Board for Eden Scotland.

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Katie Hugues

Vice-Chair

I was delighted to join the Board in January 2023 and became Joint Vice Chair a year later. I am a dedicated marketing professional with over 20 years’ experience, gained both agency and client side. I run my own established business and marketing consultancy, working with a wide range of organisations to deliver strategic, creative, and commercially effective campaigns. My work spans multiple sectors, and I am proud to have built long-standing partnerships and have a strong reputation for results. I also train communication professionals and offer leadership mentoring. I have a particular interest in education marketing and have trained and developed in-school marketing professionals through the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS). I am a Former Pupil of the School and a current Junior School parent. In my spare time, I’m a keen equestrian and an avid rugby supporter — from P5 Dundee Eagles to the Ireland national team!

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Peter Grewar

Vice-Chair

I am a farmer based near Coupar Angus where we specialise in potato and vegetable crops as well as growing cereals and oilseeds. Grewar Farming is a modern agricultural business farming land across Perthshire, Angus and as far North as The Black Isle and Easter Ross. I also currently chair the Board at East of Scotland Farmers, which is an agricultural cooperative whose main purpose is the handling and marketing of nearly 200 members’ grain, mainly to supply the whisky industry. Educated at HSD, before further study at both the Scottish Agricultural College and Edinburgh University. My wife Lucy also attended HSD and our 3 children are currently at the school. In my spare time I enjoy skiing, long distance walks and cycling. In June 2021 I walked the 105 mile distance between one of our farms on the Black Isle and our home farm at Coupar Angus, non-stop in a time of 32.5 hours raising money for Cancer Research.

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Jonny Petrie

Co-Opted Director

I join the Board having recently relocated back to Scotland from Northern Ireland, where I served as CEO at Ulster Rugby for 6 years – running one of European Rugby’s top professional clubs as well as the Governing Body for the sport in the Province. I was also a Board member of the United Rugby Championship and Chair of its Sporting & Regulatory Committee, overseeing governance and operational integrity of the league. Prior to that, I was Managing Director at Edinburgh Rugby and Group Head of Sponsorship for SSE – a role I took on after my retiral from a playing career which saw me win 45 caps and have the honour of becoming the 106th Scotland Captain. Although my professional career has been shaped by sport, I bring to the Board a broad range of executive and governance-level experience across commercial, operational, and strategic disciplines – expertise I believe can add real value at a time of significant change within the education sector. It’s a real privilege to support the School I left in 1994, and which played such a formative role in both my personal and professional development.