Mark Damazer

Mark Damazer
Born 15 April 1955
Education Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Hertfordshire [1]
Alma mater Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge
Occupation Media executive
Spouse(s) Rosemary Morgan
Children 1 son, 1 daughter

Mark David Damazer, CBE (born 15 April 1955) is the Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, and a former controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7 in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Mark Damazer was born on 15 April 1955.[2] He is the son of a Polish-Jewish delicatessen owner in Willesden in North London.

Education

Damazer was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School,[1] an independent day school in the village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, followed by Gonville and Caius College at the University of Cambridge (from 1974), where he studied History and gained a double starred first in 1977. At Cambridge he had a relationship with Enoch Powell's daughter, Jenny Powell. Enoch Powell thanked him in his biography of Joseph Chamberlain.[3] After graduating, he took up a Harkness Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Career

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".[4] In 2008, he sacked Edward Stourton from the Today (BBC Radio 4) Programme, and replaced him in 2009 with Justin Webb. He is a Fellow of The Radio Academy.[5]

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.[6]

Philanthropy

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[7] and a Trustee of the BBC since April 2015.

In 2013 Damazer was the captain of the winning team on Christmas University Challenge, representing Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge who defeated Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Personal life

Damazer met his wife Rosemary Morgan whilst at Harvard. They now live in south London with their two children.[2]

Honours

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "CV: Mark Damazer". The Times. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mark Damazer is new Controller of Radio 4 and BBC 7". BBC News. 24 September 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  3. ↑ London: Thames and Hudson, 1977
  4. ↑ "Entertainment – UK Theme to be dropped by Radio 4". BBC News. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "Fellows – The Radio Academy". Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  6. ↑ "Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer leaves the BBC". 12 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Victoria and Albert Museum. V&A Trustees. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "No. 59647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2010. p. 7.
  • "BBC – Press Office – New early morning schedule for Radio 4". Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  • "BBC – Radio 4 – Today Programme Iraq Report". Retrieved 13 April 2010.
Academic offices
Preceded by
Bernard Silverman		 Master of St Peter's College, Oxford
2010–		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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