Frances Cairncross

Dame Frances Cairncross is the Chair of Court for Heriot-Watt University, she is a former journalist for The Economist and was also their award winning Environmental editor between 1989 and 1994. She is also the former Rector of Exeter College Oxford. She is a great choice as a keynote speaker for topics that touch on the environment, economics, CSR (corporate social responsibility) and the future.

Frances formerly chaired Britain's Economic and Social Research Council. She was also the Management Editor of The Economist until 2004. Frances is the author of numerous books. In her texts she examines the challenges and opportunities technology places on corporate structure, the economic and social effects of the global communications revolution, the environment and the transformations in business and government directions. Her books have achieved high acclaim and one was shortlisted for the MCA Management Book Award. In her keynote speeches she examines similar issues and how companies, governments and environmentalists can have a common cause.

In her time on The Economist, she wrote widely on management topics, including on the future of corporate boards, on family firms and on issues around executive pay.

During her time as environment editor of The Economist between 1989 and 1994. She won the first Reuter's-Alpe Action award for her coverage during that period.

In 2015 Frances was awarded a CBE for services to Social Sciences.

She previously held posts as principal economic columnist on the Guardian newspaper, and as editor of The Economist's Britain section.

She has lectured widely to audiences in several countries, including the World Economic Forum of top managers in Davos, Switzerland. She is an excellent conference chair, and has chaired a number of major conferences for The Economist group worldwide.

Frances is currently engaged in a project in collaboration with an Academy Trust in Birmingham, supported by Frank Field. It is aimed at encouraging mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds to engage in increased verbal interaction with their infants. Research indicates that by the age of three, children from disadvantaged households often exhibit a gap in vocabulary and language development compared to their peers from more affluent backgrounds.