Professor Stephen Heppell is CEO of Heppell.net, Professor at Bournemouth University, Chair in New Media Environments, Emeritus Professor at Anglia Ruskin University, Visiting Professor at the University of Wales, Newport, and Executive Chairman of LP+.

Stephen founded Ultralab in the 1980s, moving there from the UK Government's groundbreaking Microelectronics Education Programme. Over a score of years, Ultralab grew to become Europe's leading learning technology research centre with projects that pioneered multimedia CD-ROMs and on-line communities in the 1980s - before the web.

In recognition of this work, along with others - including Damien Hirst, Jarvis Cocker, Harrison Ford, Lauren Bacall and Muhammad Ali - Stephen became an Apple Master in the 1990s.

Stephen was the guiding "father" of a number of social networking projects including *ESW in the 1980s, Schools OnLine for the Department of Trade and Industry in 1995/6, Tesco Schoolnet 2000 from 1999, and Think.com from 1999.

He left Ultralab to found his own flourishing policy and learning consultancy, Heppell.net, which now has a portfolio of international projects including Learnometer and HorizonTAL. Stephen was a founder Board Member for Teachers.TV - a UK public service TV and broadband channel for professional development of teachers.

In June 2006 Stephen was awarded the Royal Television Society's Judges Award for Lifelong Services to Educational Broadcasting. Stephen is retained by a number of organisations to help with future policy and direction, including the BBC, is an Associate of KPMG, and is retained by UK government in Horizon Scanning work to advise on future directions for educational policy.

Stephen is Executive Chairman of LP+ who are currently developing a Chinese-language learning community for 20 million Chinese school students, in partnership with China's Sun New Media corporation.