[2] Born in Melbourne, Australia on 26 October 1964, Bean has a bachelor's degree in adult education from the University of Technology, Sydney.

[13] Under a program of reforms spearheaded by Bean, the Open University has dismantled its presence in mainland Europe.

This drew criticism from University and College Union, who claimed this would have a negative effect on OU students based outside the UK.

[14] The University has maintained that the move will bring support for overseas students into line with that offered to their UK-based counterparts while also making financial savings made necessary by the UK government’s 2012 changes to higher education funding.

In a letter to The Guardian, Open University staff claim that overall, some 700 jobs could be at risk, almost a fifth of the OU's full-time workforce.