Our Governors
Acting Chair: Mrs Barbara Elliot MA (Cantab)
Barbara became a Governor in 2021 and has a long association with St Columba’s College. Her four sons attended both the Prep and Senior School and she herself taught Spanish and French at the Senior School from 1995 to 2001. A Cambridge graduate, she was appointed Head of Modern Languages at St Albans High School, going on to be Deputy Head and then Acting Head. In 2005, she moved to Highgate where she enjoyed fifteen years as Headmistress of Channing School, an independent school of almost 1000 girls aged 4 – 18. She is now working in recruitment, helping schools appoint senior leaders. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing, travelling, running and spending time with her grandchildren. Barbara is a member of the Education, Strategy and Policy Committee.
Mr Oli Adams BA (Hons)
Oli joined the Board of Governors in 2019, and he attended both the Prep and Senior Schools from 1986 to 1997. He was heavily involved in Music at the school, playing in the orchestra and singing in the choir. His proudest moment was probably receiving a standing ovation for his performance as Julie Jordan in Carousel as a boy soprano. He left St Columba’s to study Modern Languages at the University of Exeter, inspired by his love of Latin. After a ten year stint in various sales and marketing roles at the FTSE 100 Company, Pearson; and eight years as Brentwood School’s Director of Communications, Admissions & Development, he is now Associate Director for External Affairs at the Education and Training Foundation, supporting the professional development of further education teachers and leaders and championing the FE and Skills sector. He lives in a village south of Bishop’s Stortford with his wife Nicola, two children, and two Cavalier King Charles spaniels. His parents have lived in Chiswell Green since 1966. Oli is a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
Stephen Byrne
Stephen joined the Governing Board in 2024. He began his career in education as a teacher of Religious Education and is now the Headteacher of a large Catholic school (and Sixth Form) in London. Stephen has been involved in school governance, for both primary and secondary age pupils, for over a decade and a member of the collaborative steering group for a national Catholic Multi Academy Trust, as part of the Gaudete Trust for Religious Order schools across the country. Stephen is undertaking his National Professional Qualification in Executive Leadership; he sits on various committees within the Hounslow Education Partnership and has also worked extensively in Catholic music liturgy, leading worship in his home parish in Woking. Husband and father of two, Stephen spends much of his weekends walking the dog and following his beloved Crystal Palace Football Club. Stephen is a member of the Education, Strategy and Policy Committee.
Br Ronald Hingle S.C., B.S., M.Ed.
Brother Ronald became a Brother of the Sacred Heart in 1982. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics Education from Loyola University in New Orleans, and a Masters’s degree in Catholic School Administration from Boston College. Brother Ronald has been involved in the field of education for thirty-six years, teaching maths and religion in high schools throughout the southern part of the US, serving as an assistant principal, principal, and school president in several schools. He has also served as Vocation Director for nine years. The Brothers elected Brother Ronald to serve as Provincial of the Province of the United States, of which St Columba’s is a part, in October 2013. He has been a member of the Brothers’ leadership team since 2000 and became a member of the Board of Governors in the fall of 2018.
Br Joseph Holthaus, MA
Brother Joseph Holthaus joined us in September 2020 and serves as Dean of the College. As Dean, he is the liaison between St Columba’s College and the Brothers of the Sacred Heart of the Province of the United States. He works with Senior Management and the Governors to maintain the ethos and foundational charism of the Brothers. Brother Joseph was born into a military family in Syracuse, New York and as such grew up residing in seven domestic and international cities. His responsibilities as a Brother include new faculty charism formation, institutional advancement and administrative roles with the Brothers’ schools, as well as province leadership. Brother Joe holds a BA in Secondary Education from Spring Hill College in Alabama, and an MA in English from Notre Dame University.
Br Ivy LeBlanc SC, BS, MEd, MPS
Brother Ivy became a Brother of the Sacred Heart in 1967 and has been a member of the Board of Governors since 2009. As well as being steeped in the Charism of the Brothers, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Louisiana State University, a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Tulane University and a Master’s Degree in Theology from Loyola University of New Orleans. After thirty-one years in school ministry as teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal and President, he served seven years as Provincial of the New Orleans Province of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. He now serves on the Provincial Council and as Treasurer of the US Province. He is also the Executive Director of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Foundation and directs the Coindre Leadership Program.
Eugene van Dijk
Eugene joined the Board of Governors in 2024. An Economics graduate of University College London, Eugene spent more than a decade as a journalist on an award-winning commercial property magazine before moving to the City. There, he worked for UBS AG, one of the eight global ‘bulge bracket’ banks, as managing editor for EMEA equity research within the global investment bank. Recently retired, he is married. Eugene is a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
Mr Stephen Watson BA, FCA
Stephen became a member of the Board of Governors in 2012. Stephen is an Economics graduate from the University of Kent and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Following a decade with Price Waterhouse, working in London, Milan and St Albans, he has spent the last twenty years as Finance Director of a number of professional services firms based in the City of London. Stephen is currently Director of Finance at Dentons UK & Middle East LLP, an international law firm. He is married with two sons, both of whom are Columbans, having spent fourteen years at the school. Stephen chairs the Finance and General Purposes Committee and the Audit Committee.
