David Bell director for people, aged 60, became a director of Pearson in March 1996. In 1998 he was appointed Pearson's director for people with responsibility for the recruitment, motivation, development and reward of employees. He is also chairman of The Financial Times Group, a non-executive director of VITEC Group plc and chairman of Sadlers Wells and Crisis, a charity for the homeless.

Rona Fairhead chief executive of The Financial Times Group, aged 45, joined the Pearson board in June 2002 as chief financial officer. She was appointed chief executive of The Financial Times Group in June 2006. From 1996 until 2001, she worked at ICI, where she served as executive vice president, group control and strategy. She is also a non-executive director of HSBC Holdings plc.

Robin Freestone chief financial officer, aged 48, joined Pearson in 2004 as deputy chief financial officer and became chief financial officer in June 2006, when he also joined the Pearson board. He was previously group financial controller of Amersham plc (now part of GE), having joined Amersham as chief financial officer of their health business in 2000. Prior to that he held a number of senior financial positions with ICI, Zeneca and Henkel. He is also a non-executive director of eChem Limited.

John Makinson chairman and chief executive officer of The Penguin Group, aged 52, joined the Pearson board in March 1996 and was finance director until June 2002. He was appointed chairman of The Penguin Group in May 2001. He is also chairman of Interactive Data Corporation and a non-executive director of George Weston Limited in Canada.

Non-executive directors

David Arculus*†• aged 60, is a non-executive director of Telefonica SA and was previously chairman of O2 plc from 2004 until it was acquired by Telefonica at the beginning of 2006. His previous roles include chairman of Severn Trent plc and IPC Group, chief operating officer of United Business Media plc and group managing director of EMAP plc. He became a non-executive director of Pearson in February 2006.

Terry Burns†• aged 62, has been chairman of Marks and Spencer Group plc since July 2006, having previously been deputy chairman from October 2005. He is chairman of Abbey National plc and a non-executive director of Banco Santander Central Hispano. He is also chairman of Glas Cymru Limited. He was the UK government's chief economic adviser from 1980 until 1991 and Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury from 1991 until 1998. He was appointed a non-executive director of Pearson in May 1999 and senior independent director in February 2004.

Patrick Cescau*• aged 58, is group chief executive of Unilever. He became a non-executive director of Pearson in April 2002.

Susan Fuhrman*• aged 62, is president of Teachers College at Columbia University,America's oldest and largest graduate school of education. She was previously dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and an officer of the National Academy of Education. She became a non-executive director of Pearson in July 2004.

Ken Hydon*• aged 62, is a non-executive director of Tesco plc, Reckitt Benckiser plc and Royal Berks NHS Foundation Trust. He was previously financial director of Vodafone Group plc and of subsidiaries of Racal Electronics. He became a non-executive director of Pearson in February 2006.

Rana Talwar†• aged 58, was previously group chief executive of Standard Chartered plc. He is chairman of Sabre Capital Worldwide and Centurion Bank and a non-executive director of Schlumberger Limited and Fortis Bank. He became a non-executive director of Pearson in March 2000.

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