Mark Damazer | |
|---|---|
 Damazer in 2022 | |
| Born | 15 April 1955 |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Hertfordshire [1] |
| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | Media executive |
| Children | Two |
Mark David Damazer, CBE (born 15 April 1955), is a former Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, and a former controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra in the United Kingdom.
Damazer was born on 15 April 1955. [2] He is the son of a Polish-Jewish delicatessen owner in Willesden in North London. He is the younger brother of Benjamyn Damazer JP DL.
Damazer was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, [1] an independent day school in the village of Elstree in Hertfordshire. He then studied history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (from 1974), where he graduated with a double starred first. [3] After graduating, Damazer took up a Harkness Fellowship to study at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. [4]
Damazer returned to England to train at ITN in 1980, with fellow trainees Edward Stourton and Michael Crick. He joined the BBC World Service as a current affairs producer in 1981. From 1982 to 1984, he worked at TV-am, returning to BBC News in 1984. He joined Newsnight as an editor in January 1986. In August 1988, he became deputy editor of the Nine O'Clock News , becoming editor in 1990. In 1994, he became Editor of Television News Programmes, then Head of Current Affairs in May 1996. He became Head of Political Programmes in March 1998. [2] He became Assistant Director of BBC News in December 1999, then Deputy Director in April 2001. [2] He was appointed Controller of Radio 4 and BBC7 in October 2004, taking over from Helen Boaden. In 2006, he was involved in a controversy over his decision to replace the Radio 4 UK Theme with a "pacy news briefing, read by one of Radio 4's team of news readers". [5] In 2008, he sacked Edward Stourton from the Today programme, and replaced him in 2009 with Justin Webb. Damazer is a Fellow of The Radio Academy. [6]
On 12 April 2010, the BBC announced that Damazer was standing down as Controller of Radio 4 and leaving the Corporation to become Master of St Peter's College, Oxford. [4] He held the appointment of Master from October 2010 to September 2019. [7] [8]
In June 2020 he was announced as chair of the Booker Prize Foundation, succeeding Baroness Helena Kennedy. [9] [10]
Damazer served on the boards of trustees of the Institute of Contemporary British History and the Carl Rosa Opera, [2] and Mental Health Media.
Damazer is the Senior Non-Executive Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum [11] and a Trustee of the BBC since April 2015.
Damazer is married with two children. [2]
In the 2011 New Year Honours, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to broadcasting. [12]