Patricia Hodgson
Patricia Anne Hodgson DBE (born 19 January 1947) is the Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge[1] and a member of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Biography
Following an early stint at the Conservative Party research department (1968 – 1970), Hodgson worked as a producer and journalist and was a founder-member of the distance learning team at the Open University. Between 1983 and 2000 she worked in a variety of positions at the BBC (see below). She served on the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1993 – 1999), and was a non-executive member of the London Arts Board and a Trustee of the Prince’s Youth Business Trust. She also served on the Advisory Board of the Judge Institute for Management Studies, Cambridge. She is a former Vice-President of the Royal Television Society and a former member of the Statistics Commission.
From September 2000 to the end of 2003, Hodgson was Chief Executive of the Independent Television Commission, a body which has since been subsumed by the media regulator Ofcom. From 2004 – 2008 she was a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. During the same period she was a Governor of the Wellcome Trust.
Dame Patricia holds an MA from Newnham College Cambridge, and honorary doctorates from City University, London[2] and the University of Essex[3]. She was an Associate Fellow of Newnham College between 1993 and 1996.
She is a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and a non-executive director of the Competition Commission. She has been Principal at Newnham, her alma mater, since August 2006.
BBC
Template:BBCportal Patricia Hodgson started her career at the BBC as Deputy Secretary, quickly moving to become the Secretary. She was subsequently Head of Policy (1987 – 1992) and then Director of Policy and Planning (1993 – 2000), a position on the main board. As Director of Policy and Planning she played a key role in many initiatives, including the original concept for BBC Prime and what was then BBC World, now BBC World News. Hodgson also led the BBC team which planned the launch of new digital and online services between 1997 and 2000.
When Michael Grade stood down from the position of BBC Chairman to become the Executive Chairman of rival broadcaster ITV plc, Hodgson was widely rumoured to be in line to succeed him. She ruled herself out of contention, saying that her role at Newnham prevented her from doing so.[4]
Although not taking the position of Chairman, she was appointed as a member of the BBC Trust[5], the body which replaced the BBC Board of Governors as the governing body of the Corporation on 1 January 2007. Sir Michael Lyons was appointed as Chairman.
Honours
Hodgson was made a CBE in 1995 and a Dame of the British Empire in 2004.
Personal life
Dame Patricia is married.
External links
References
- ^ Newnham College, Cambridge College Officers and Staff
- ^ City University Honorary Awards
- ^ University of Essex
- ^ "Prudent Pat out of race for BBC top job"
- ^ BBC Press Release New BBC Trust to represent the public interest