Lord Willis was educated at City of Leeds and Carnegie College, and Birmingham University. He spent 20 years as head teacher of two large urban comprehensives and seven years leading Harrogate Borough Council before entering Parliament in 1997. He was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills prior to being elected Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee in 2005. He recently led the Health Education England ‘Shape of Caring Review’ into the education and training of nursing and health care staff where his proposals helped introduce the nursing associate post. He was a member of the sponsorship board to review NMC nursing standards. He is currently leading major initiatives on the future education and training of genomic nursing staff and of the mental health workforce, and is leading a ground breaking proposal to set up the first ever doctoral training centre for nursing. He has been awarded an Hon Doctorate from London City University for his work on nurse education.