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Meet Independent Council Member, Marek Pruszewicz, and find out what drove him to become a member of the University Council.

“I’ve spent most of my career working as a journalist, first for the Reading Evening Post in my home town before moving up north. I spent two years working for the BBC on a weekly politics programme where our local MPs included Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and Alan Milburn before becoming the political editor for the Newcastle Journal and moving down to Westminster, at a time when John Major was Prime Minister and having plenty of problems. 

“After that move to London, I spent the best part of two decades as an editor for BBC News. I edited every hour of the day at some point on the news channel originally called BBC News 24 - the person in charge of our rotas used to joke that the clue to shifts was in the title - as well as working on the One and Six O’Clock news programmes and a stint on Newsnight when Jeremy Paxman presented which was great fun. I then spent a few years with BBC World Service where I set up the first-ever video unit of multi-lingual, multi-skilled journalists who produced content for the BBC's international services - which I think was the best job I ever had at the BBC.

“Over my time at the BBC I worked with almost every presenter and on lots of breaking news and rolling stories including Barack Obama’s election as president, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks. You learn fast as an editor that you need to think very quickly because all eyes are on you to make the decision to hold or break a story. The BBC prides itself on accuracy and there’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders, especially when other news organisations are running stories that you don’t think ring true. You have to hold your nerve and follow your gut, it’s a bit like being a goalie! 

“I worked on a lot of pressing, hard news but my stand out story is when a plane went down in the Hudson river in New York. I was driving home from Television Centre when the assistant editor rang and asked if we should lead on this news. I said you should be rolling on that story and nothing else! All the passengers and crew survived thanks to the skill of Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and that’s why it’s also my favourite story. It was an important one too as one of the first times that social media footage came in before professional television crews got to the scene. Somebody on one of the ferries going out to rescue passengers had an iPhone, took some stills and published them. And that’s now become absolutely routine in all news coverage.

“I got to my late 40s, when I’d been working for the BBC for 18 years, and realised the news genre was shrinking in television. I had a conversation with one of the presenters and said ‘I wonder if any of the stuff we’ve ever done actually makes an impact’. There were ratings figures of course but I was starting to ponder on the actual difference I was making. 

I was introduced to the Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and we talked about comms. Nine months later they advertised for a director of communications. I applied and got the job, walking out of the BBC on Friday and becoming a director of communications the following Monday.

“That was the start of what’s, so far, been nearly a decade working in strategic communications for NGOs and social enterprises. My first two roles spanned global sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights, and then basic education provision, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. I currently work for Together for Girls, a global partnership working to end violence against children and adolescents, with special attention to sexual violence. 

“When I joined IPPF I remember our two daughters telling me they were proud I was working in providing reproductive healthcare - which is so basic or barely exists in so many places. That meant a lot to me.

“I can now point to things and say ‘I helped to deliver that’ which is very satisfying. I enjoyed the story scoops during my media career but nothing beats receiving a phone call to hear you’ve secured a substantial grant that will transform lives. I now work with a range of stakeholders, of which the media is one, and I’ve learnt a lot. And I can honestly say that when I watch the breaking news stories I once edited I really don’t miss it. Although having sat on the other side of the fence for many years, I pride myself on being pretty good at dealing with journalists!

“Outside of work, I’m a mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation which supports young people applying to university from backgrounds where they don't have familial experience or school support to draw on.

“I volunteer to work with the foundation because I was the first in my family to go to university. My parents came from Poland and my father stayed in Britain after serving in the Free Polish Army in the Second World War. And so I grew up as a second-generation immigrant in a very blue-collar Polish community in Reading. I didn’t really know anyone who’d been to university - the lives of the adults I knew had been completely turned upside down by war which massively disrupted their education.

“I was lucky enough to have a teacher who said she thought I should go to university. With her support, I applied to the University of Oxford to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics and I got in. It was utterly transformative and completely changed my life. Doors opened to me that I didn’t even know existed. 

“And so I chose to join BNU’s Council in 2023 because I’m very, very passionate about access and participation. I knew the University shares my passion and that its staff work so hard to offer the opportunity of higher education to people who may not think university is for them.

“It’s great to be part of University Council – we’re an enthusiastic group of people with a really interesting range of skills and experience. We see ourselves as critical friends to the University, applying scrutiny and asking questions such as ‘are you really sure?’ about the big strategic projects. It’s not our place to meddle in the day-to-day operations. The University is lucky to have a very strong executive team running those. 

“My friend’s daughter studies at BNU and it’s been good to hear her praise the award-winning student support for which the University is renowned. She really liked studying in High Wycombe. I’m very proud to be part of the BNU family and think it’s so important for Buckinghamshire to have a successful public university 

“And for the past eight years, I’ve also sat on the board for the family-owned Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, a house which publishes James Bond books and the continuity novels by authors including Charlie Higson and Anthony Horowitz. It’s been so interesting to learn about the world of books and publishing. I was a judge for three years for the Crime Writers’ Association Awards - which was really enjoyable, but meant I had to read more than 100 thrillers a year. I’m a very quick reader!

“I started running marathons three years ago when I got a place in the first London Marathon after Covid to raise money for a lymphatic cancer charity, as my brother died from the disease at 39 when his two children were very young. It was a very hard time for our family.. 

“My brother ran marathons and I kept saying I’ll run one when I’m 30, when I'm 40, when I’m 50… but I finally made my debut at 53. It was an amazing experience and, thanks to the incredible support from spectators shouting out the name on my vest, I got round and raised a few thousand pounds. I broke down and cried when I crossed the finish line knowing this first race was for my brother. I’ve now run six marathons and have raised money for the Alzheimer’s Society and to support people with pancreatic cancer as well as for lymphatic cancer. Our daughters and son joined me for a half marathon too, which was very special. When I run I always hear my brother laughing in my head - telling me I’m too old! But I think he’d also be quite chuffed that I’ve run for him. 

“There are three prerequisites for any marathon I run: it has to be flat; there must be a very generous cut off time as I'm very slow; and, most importantly, it has to be somewhere my wife fancies going for the weekend as my valued ‘support crew’! Our seventh one is in Ghent, in Belgium. If anyone needs tips on the flattest marathons in Europe, I’m your man. 

“My aim is to run at least 10 marathons before I’m 60. And now I’ve said it, I have to do it…it’s good to have goal! 

“I’m so impressed by how our students juggle so many commitments to complete their degrees. I had it easy in comparison.  Their drive and commitment is incredibly impressive and I'm very proud to play my part in enabling people to say ‘I’m a graduate’. I know from personal experience how powerful it is to access a university education, and to go on to achieve things you’d never thought possible, or simply never even imagined. I know it means so much not just to the students, but their whole families. BNU graduation ceremonies are filled with family and friends bursting with pride as students collect their degrees. To this day, my mother still keeps the letter offering me a university place in her handbag. I think that just about says it all.”