Sir David Charles Maurice Bell [1] (born 30 September 1946 [2] ) is a businessman, publisher and philanthropist.
He is former Director for People at Pearson plc [3] and a former chairman of the Financial Times (1996 to 2009). [4] [5] In November 2012 he became Chair of the Syndicate of Cambridge University Press.
Born in Henfield, [6] Sir David was educated at Worth School. [7] He is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and Cambridge University. [6] [8]
He is married to Primrose, with three children. [8]
Having worked at the Oxford Mail (1970–1972), Bell became a news editor at the Financial Times in 1978. [2] He rose to Managing Editor (1985–1989) before moving to the business side, initially as marketing director (1989–1993). [2] [9] He became Chief Executive in 1993 and chairman in 1996 until 2009. [9] He was appointed Director for People at Pearson Group in 1998 and Chairman of Pearson in 2003. [3] [4] [5] [9] [10] [11]
In November 2012 he became Chair of the Syndicate of Cambridge University Press.
As Chairman of the UK's Millennium Bridge Trust (1995 to 2002) [4] [12] David Bell signed off London's Millennium Bridge, [6] which he could see from his office window at the FT.
He is Chair of the Media Standards Trust, [13] which helps to administer the Orwell Prize. [14]
He is a director of ImagineNations, where he is also Secretary and Treasurer. [15]
He is a governor at Worth School, a Catholic independent school in Sussex.
Sir David is Chair of Council at Roehampton University. [8]
Sir David is International Chair of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, iwpr.net.
Sir David is also Chairman of Sadler's Wells. [16]
Sir David is a trustee of Common Purpose UK. [4] [6]
Sir David was chairman of Crisis UK for 10 years until 2012. [17]
Sir David is an assessor on the Leveson Inquiry. [9]
Sir David Bell has been appointed as the non-executive chair of the steering committee driving the development of the National Equality Standard.
He is also on the Royal National Theatre Honorary Council. [18]
Sir David was made a Knight Bachelor for services to industry, the arts and charity [1] [6] [19] in the Queen's 2004 Birthday Honours. [1] [20] [21]
In 2007, Sir David was awarded an honorary degree from City University London. [22]
Robert Haldane Smith, Baron Smith of Kelvin, is a British businessman and former Governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Smith was knighted in 1999, appointed to the House of Lords as an independent crossbench peer in 2008, and appointed Knight of the Thistle in the 2014 New Year Honours. He was also appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2016.
Sir David John Spiegelhalter is a British statistician and a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. From 2007 to 2018 he was Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Spiegelhalter is an ISI highly cited researcher.
Sir Christopher William Kelly, KCB is a former senior British Civil Servant who was the Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and Chairman of the NSPCC.
Sir Peter Lytton Bazalgette is a British television executive and producer, also active in the fields of the Arts and broader creative industries.
Sir Philip Roy Hampton is a British businessman. He was the first chairman of UK Financial Investments Limited in 2008 and chairman of government-owned The Royal Bank of Scotland Group between 2009 and 2015. He has also chaired GlaxoSmithKline and J Sainsbury.
Sir David Ronald Norgrove is an English businessman and government official, who was chair of the UK Statistics Authority from 2017 to 2022. He was previously the first chairman of The Pensions Regulator, and then chair of the Low Pay Commission.
Sir Michael Thomas Lyons is a British politician and former chairman of the BBC Trust. He currently serves as non-executive chairman of the English Cities Fund and chairs the board of the SQW Group.
Dame Marjorie Scardino,, FRSA is an American-born British business executive. She is the former CEO of Pearson PLC. Scardino became a trustee of Oxfam during her tenure at Pearson.
David Sydney Rowe-Beddoe, Baron Rowe-Beddoe,, was a Welsh businessman and life peer who was a crossbench member of the House of Lords. Lord Rowe-Beddoe was chairman of the Welsh Development Agency, and was chairman of Cardiff Airport until November 2016.
Henry Dennistoun "Dennis" Stevenson, Baron Stevenson of Coddenham, is a British businessman and former chairman of HBOS. He sat on the crossbenches in the House of Lords from 1999 until his retirement in 2023.
Sir Howard John Davies is a British historian and author, who is the chairman of NatWest Group and the former director of the London School of Economics.
The Media Standards Trust is a British media think tank formed in 2006. It carries out research on issues in the media sector. It also advocates for press freedom as well as industry quality, transparency and accountability. It is a registered charity and is not aligned with any political party or media company.
Sir David Hartmann Higgins is an Australian-British businessman, the Chairman of United Utilities Group, Chairman of Gatwick Airport, and the former Non-Executive Chairman of High Speed Two (HS2). He was Chief Executive of the London 2012 Summer Olympics Delivery Authority and Network Rail.
Sir John Irving Bell is a Canadian-British immunologist and geneticist. From 2006 to 2011, he was President of the United Kingdom's Academy of Medical Sciences, and since 2002 he has held the Regius Chair of Medicine at the University of Oxford. He was since 2006 Chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) but in 2020 became a normal member. Bell was selected to the Vaccine Taskforce sometime before 1 July 2020. Bell is also on the board of directors of the SOE quango Genomics England.
Lieutenant General Sir Barnabas William Benjamin White-Spunner, is a retired British Army officer, who was subsequently executive chairman of the Countryside Alliance until 2016. He is an author, a director of Burstock Ltd. and was appointed chairman of the advisory board of UK Fisheries Ltd in October 2018.
Guy Vaughan Black, Baron Black of Brentwood is Deputy Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group.
Sir Donald Gordon Cruickshank is a Scottish businessman, whose career has straddled public and private sector.
Sir Nigel Leonard Wicks is a British financier and former senior British civil servant. He also served as Chairman of Euroclear.
Sir David John Verey CBE is an English banker and philanthropist.
The Honours Committee is a committee within the Cabinet Office of the Government of the United Kingdom formed to review nominations for national honours for merit, exceptional achievement or service. Twice yearly the Honours Committee submits formal recommendations for the British monarch's New Years and Birthday Honours. Members of the Honours Committee—which comprises a main committee and nine subcommittees in speciality areas—research and vet nominations for national awards, including knighthoods and the Order of the British Empire.
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