Professor Graeme Atherton is Director of the Centre of Inequality and Levelling Up (CELUP) at the University of West London, leads the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON) which is the UK professional organisation for access & equity in higher education (HE) with over 100 universities as members and has also founded World Access to Higher Education Day (WAHED). From 2012 to 2021 he also led AccessHE a network of over 200 schools, colleges and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), working together in London to extend access to higher education (HE). He is a trustee of the National Union of Students (NUS) and holds visiting professorships at the Centre for Higher Education Research, Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur and Amity University London. He has produced over 200 publications and conference papers.