Lord Smith’s Mastership Extended
Pembroke College is pleased to announce that the Mastership of Lord Smith of Finsbury PC has been extended by three years, to 31 July 2024.
The formal vote was passed at a special meeting of the Governing Body earlier this week.
The President of the College, Professor Mike Payne, said: “Lord Smith has dedicated himself to Pembroke since becoming Master in October 2015. He has provided leadership, support and personal encouragement to the entire Pembroke community of students, staff, Fellows, alumni and all others with an interest in the College. I am delighted that this will continue for a further three years, at a time when this kind of support is needed more than ever.”
Reflecting on his re-election as Master, Lord Smith responded: “I’m honoured to have been asked to continue as Master of Pembroke. Together with all my colleagues here, I’ll be working hard to ensure that we emerge from the current pandemic stronger and even more determined to make the future brighter.”
Lord Smith is only the 44th Master of Pembroke College, which was founded in 1347. He is himself an alumnus of Pembroke, matriculating in 1969. He achieved a double First in English and later took a PhD on the idea of solitude in Romantic poetry, with reference to Wordsworth and Coleridge. He was also a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University.
As Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport between 1997 and 2001, Lord Smith was responsible for restoring free admission to national museums and galleries, established NESTA, the Film Council, Creative Partnerships for schools, and the Foundation for Youth Music. He expanded funding for the arts and sport, championed the creative industries for the first time in Government, and began the switchover process for digital television. Lord Smith began his political career as Labour councillor in the London borough of Islington, then was elected Member of Parliament in the seat of Islington South and Finsbury in the 1983 General Election, which he held until stepping down in 2005. He was made a Life Peer in 2005 and sits on the crossbenches in the House of Lords.
In 2003 he became Director of the Clore Leadership Programme, helping to develop the potential of future leaders in the cultural sector; in July 2008 he became Chairman of the Environment Agency. He chaired the Environment Agency from 2008 to 2014; from 2007 to 2017 he was also Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority. In 2014 he became Chairman of the Art Fund; he was Chairman of Judges for the Man Booker Prize in 2004; and Chairman of the Donmar Warehouse Theatre until 2014. In 2011-12 he led the Review of Film Policy for the Government. He is currently Chair of the Intellectual Property Regulation Board, a Non-Executive Director of PPL, a Non-Executive Director of South Staffs and Cambridge Water, and Honorary President of the Wordsworth Trust.
During Lord Smith’s time at Pembroke, the College has begun work on one of its most ambitious redevelopment projects with the acquisition of land directly across the road from the main site of the College. The £75 million project will increase the College’s footprint by a third, allowing it to expand its number of student rooms, study rooms and wider facilities.
Image: Official House of Lords portrait of Lord Smith of Finsbury (2020) (cropped) is licensed under CC BY 3.0.