Dame Rotha Geraldine Diane Johnston, DBE (born August 1959) is a Northern Irish entrepreneur in commerce and property. Johnston is chair of Northern Ireland Screen, [1] a non-executive director of Northern Ireland Electricity and an independent board member of the Department of Justice and Belfast Harbour Commissioners. [2]
Johnston, a native of West Belfast who attended St Dominic's Grammar School, is a non-executive Director of Allied Irish Bank and Deputy Chair of Invest Northern Ireland. She is a non-executive member of the Northern Ireland Office and Pro Chancellor at Queen's University Belfast. [3]
On 1 November 2006 Johnston was appointed as one of the founding members of the BBC Trust, [4] which along with a formal executive board replaced the former BBC Board of Governors as the governing body of the BBC. [5] Her term expired on 31 October 2010. Until late 2012, Johnston served as BBC National Trustee for Northern Ireland and chaired the BBC Audience Council Northern Ireland, which advises the BBC Trust on the views of Northern Irish licence fee payers.
She was also the chair of the Trust's Finance and Compliance Committee. She was replaced by Aideen McGinley, a former Chief Executive of Ilex.
Johnston was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours [6] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to the Northern Ireland economy and public service. [7]
Julia Elizabeth King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, is a British engineer and a crossbench member of the House of Lords, where she chairs the Select Committee on Science and Technology. She is the incumbent chair of the Carbon Trust and the Henry Royce Institute, and was the vice-chancellor of Aston University from 2006 to 2016.
Lady Mary Elizabeth Peters, is a Northern Irish former athlete and athletics administrator. She is best known as the 1972 Olympic champion in the pentathlon, for which she won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Peters was named as Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter on 27 February 2019. She was installed in St. George's Chapel, the chapel of the Order, on Garter Day, 17 June.
Dame Katharine Mary Barker is a British economist. She is principally noted for her role at the Bank of England and for advising the British government on social issues such as housing and health care.
Nuala Patricia O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan, MRIA, known between 2007 and 2009 as Dame Nuala O'Loan, is a noted public figure in Northern Ireland. She was the first Police Ombudsman from 1999 to 2007. In July 2009, it was announced that she was to be appointed to the House of Lords and she was so appointed in September 2009. In December 2010, National University of Ireland, Maynooth appointed her as Chairman of its Governing Authority. She is a columnist with The Irish Catholic.
Dame Elizabeth Anne Lucy Forgan, DBE is an English journalist, and radio and television executive.
Dame Patricia Anne Hodgson, is a British broadcasting executive, competition regulator, and academic administrator.
Dame Fiona Claire Reynolds is a British former civil servant and chair of the National Audit Office. She was previously Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Director-General of the National Trust. She is the current Chair of the Governing Council at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester.
Dame Susan Catherine Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Loughborough, is a British sports administrator who was chairman of UK Sport between 2003 and 2013.
Dame Priscilla Deborah Snowball, DBE, generally known as Cilla Snowball, is Group Chairman and Group Chief Executive of AMV BBDO, an advertising and communications group in the UK. She has worked for Abbott Mead Vickers for 20 years; in senior management positions since 2005, rising to agency head and now country head.
Professor Dame Joan Kathleen Stringer, DBE, FRSE, FRSA is a British political scientist and former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
Dame Julia Unwin was chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust(JRHT). The Guardian in 2007 described her as a "major player in the voluntary sector." In 2012 she was appointed by the Scottish Government as a member of the Expert Working Group on Welfare and Constitutional Reform.
Dame Elan Closs Stephens, is a non-executive director of the BBC Board since 2017, serving as BBC Acting Chairwoman from 27 June 2023. Specialising in cultural and broadcasting policy, she is also Electoral Commissioner for Wales and Pro-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University. She also chairs the UNESCO International Prize for the Creative Economy panel.
Dame Amelia Chilcott Fawcett is an American-British business executive who is currently Chairman of Kinnevik AB (Stockholm) and Lead Director of State Street Corporation. Fawcett is the Chairman of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a Governor of the Wellcome Trust and a Trustee of Project HOPE UK.
Dame Parveen June Kumar is a British doctor who is currently Professor of Medicine and Education at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. She worked in the NHS for over 40 years as a consultant gastroenterologist and physician at Barts and the London Hospitals and the Homerton University Hospital. She was the President of the British Medical Association in 2006, of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2010 to 2012, of the Medical Women's Federation from 2016 to 2018 and of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund from 2013 to 2020. She was also Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians from 2003 to 2005. In addition, she was a founding non-executive director of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, chaired the Medicines Commission UK until 2005, and also chaired the BUPA Foundation Charity for Research until 2013.
Dame Ila Dianne Thompson, DBE is a British businesswoman. She was Chief Executive Officer of Camelot Group from 2000 to 2014.
Dame Pamela Louise Makin, DBE is a British businesswoman.
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.
Dame Susan Ilene Rice, Lady Rice, is a British banker, company and charity director and Chair of Scottish Water, Business Stream, North American Income Trust, and non-executive director of the Office for Budget Responsibility. In 2000 she became the first women to lead a British clearing bank.
Dame Moira Margaret Gibb is a British public servant and social work adviser. After qualifying as a social worker, she worked for the London boroughs of Ealing, Kensington and Chelsea, and Camden, where she served as the chief executive of Camden London Borough Council from 2003 to 2011. Gibb served as a Civil Service commissioner from 2012 to 2016, and chaired the boards of City Lit and Skills for Care until 2022. She led a serious case review into safeguarding at Southbank International School, and into the Church of England's response to the case of Peter Ball.
Dame Fionnuala Mary Jay-O'Boyle, is a British lobbyist, charity trustee, and public official. She is the Lord-Lieutenant for the County Borough of Belfast since 2014, and a member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission since 2019.