Our Board

Chris Sawyer

Chair of the Board

Chris Sawyer is legal manager for BP’s North Sea and Russia businesses, working in Aberdeen and living in Aboyne. He moved with his family to Scotland from London in 2005 and apart from three years in Moscow has lived and worked here ever since. His children have attended ISA since 2016, valuing the locally-rooted but globally-focused education offered by the school. He has been a member of the Board since May 2018.

Tristan Cutler

Vice Chair of the Board

Tristan is a Private Equity investor and Fund manager for Kinch Enterprises, leading and managing investments across multiple sectors. Prior to joining Kinch Enterprises, Tristan was an Investor with 3i, a UK based Private Equity firm where he was responsible for the origination, evaluation and execution of investment opportunities in the Oil and Gas sector. Prior to 3i, Tristan was an Officer in the Royal Navy where he held various support, planning and operational logistics roles at sea and ashore in the UK and internationally. Tristan is married to Melanie who is an active member of the ISA Parent Teacher Organisation. They have two children who have attended ISA since 2011.

Chris Walker

Board Member

Currently the Finance Director at SLB overseeing the European operations.

Transferred family to Aberdeen in summer of 2022, after spending 3 years in Paris France looking after Europe & Africa Treasury, and prior multiple roles in SLB in the USA (where we are from)

Have 3 children attending ISA, Andie just now completing G4, Ella completing G1, and Weston moving into Kindergarten.

My wife Emily has a passion for learning and education, where she is involved at ISA through the PTO as well as volunteers as a English teacher for refugees here in Aberdeen.

Dr Ravyn Hurry

Board Member

English, of Mauritian origin, Ravyn is an accomplished petrophysicist and project manager, employed by Shell. Over the last 12 years, he has worked in locations as varied as Norway and Oman. These experiences have provided him broad insight into diverse cultures. Excited by the energy transition, he would like to help ISA foster a genuine insight into future global energy scenarios. With one child at ISA (and another starting next school year), the school's wellbeing in these uncertain times is firmly in his interest.

Paul de Leeuw

Board Member

Paul is a senior industry leader and executive with over 33 years’ experience in the global energy sector. He has worked for a wide range of companies, including Shell, Marathon Oil, Amoco, BP, Venture Production and Centrica.

He is currently the Director of Robert Gordon University’s Energy Transition Institute, Chair of the National Energy Skills Accelerator, Chair of PlanSea Solutions and a Professor at Robert Gordon University (UK).

Paul is an experienced non-executive director, with over 20 years of involvement in public, private and voluntary sector organisations. He is also a regular contributor to industry events and a frequent media commentator on issues and developments in the international energy sector.

Dr Doris Reiter

Board Member

Dr Doris Reiter is the Senior Vice President for bp North Sea and a Reservoir Engineer by background, having held multiple engineering and technical leadership roles globally. Doris is a native of Austria but has spent the majority of her career in the USA. She moved with her family to Aberdeen in 2018. Mum to two sons, her eldest graduated ISA in 2022 and is now studying Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh whilst her youngest is in middle school at ISA and enjoys being part of the internationally diverse student body.

Dave Cox

Board Member

Dave is the Shell Strategic Account Leader for Baker Hughes, responsible for the success of the Baker Hughes-Shell relationship at a global level.

Dave grew up in the UK, and had his first international experience as a field engineer in Africa in his 20s. He met his Mexican wife while overseas and they worked together internationally before moving to the UK in 2004. Aberdeen became home, until Dave was offered a role in Asia – the family spend 3.5 happy years in KL and returned to Aberdeen in 2023, at which time their children joined ISA.

Dave and family have a desire to see Aberdeen thrive through the energy transition … a world-class international school offering the IB curriculum is part of this, and Dave is serving on the ISA board to play his part.

Michael Ziegler

Board Member

Michael joined TotalEnergies E&P UK’s Aberdeen office in November 2022 as People & Transition Director.After graduating, Michael worked for a law firm in Leipzig (Germany) before joining the HR department of a family-owned company in the steel industry. This was followed by further positions in human resources at Hutchinson Aerospace (aerospace industry) and Faurecia (automotive supplier).

In 2016, he moved to Total and initially took the position of Employee Relationship Manager at the Headquarter in Berlin in Marketing & Service before being appointed Director of Human Resources in 2017.

Michael is a graduate of the Martin-Luther-University (2000) Halle-Wittenberg (lower saxony, Germany).

Xavier Fava

Board Member

An adept professional with hands-on expertise spanning petrochemical processes, unit operations, information technology, human resources, project management, and other pivotal managerial activities. Boasting a robust background in industrial organization and engineering, I bring over two decades of valuable experience in the dynamic realm of oil and gas. My journey is characterized by a commitment to excellence and a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies involved in managing complex operations within the industry

Expatriate living in Aberdeen for 3 years with family, wife and daughter.