Frances Cairncross

Cairncross was born on 30 August 1944 to Mary Frances (née Glynn) and the economist, Sir Alexander Kirkland Cairncross. She attended Laurel Bank School in Glasgow and studied for an MA in History at St Anne's College, Oxford, graduating in 1965. She went on to study for an MA in Economics at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.[2] She holds honorary degrees from Trinity College Dublin, City University, and the universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Loughborough[3] and Kingston. She became a Fellow of St Anne's College in 1993.[2]

Cairncross married the journalist Hamish McRae in 1971; the couple have two daughters. Her uncle, John Cairncross was an intelligence officer, spy, double agent and a translator of literature.[2][4] Her brother is the epidemiologist Sandy Cairncross.

Cairncross worked at The Times (1967-69), The Banker (1969) and The Observer (1970-73). From 1973-1984, Cairncross was on the staff of The Guardian newspaper serving as its economics correspondent from 1973-1981 and as women's page editor from 1981-1984. She joined the staff of The Economist in 1984 working on coverage of the environment, media and public policy. From 1999-2004, she was management editor.[2]

She chaired the Economic and Social Research Council between 2001 and 2007 and was President of the British Science Association (2005–06).[2]

Her book, The Company of the Future (ISBN 1861974051), was published in 2002 by Harvard Business School Press.[5] In March 2003, she won the Institute of Internal Auditors' annual award for business and management journalism. Cairncross is also the author of The Death of Distance (ISBN 0875848060), a study of the economic and social effects of the global communications revolution, first published in 1997 and re-published in a new edition in 2001.

Cairncross was Rector of Exeter College, Oxford from October 2004 to October 2014.[6]

Cairncross was a non-executive director of Stramongate Ltd from 2005-2011[2] and a presenter of BBC Radio 4's Analysis programme. In 2004-05, Cairncross held the honorary post of High Sheriff of Greater London.[7]

From 2015, Cairncross is Chair of the Court of Heriot-Watt University.[2]

In January 1988, Frances Cairncross and Mary Ellen Synon wrote a news article for The Economist that depicted the Republic of Ireland as bureaucratic and impoverished.[8][9] The article caused anger within the Fianna Fáil government of the time. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs also criticised the piece, stating that the Economist article "did serious damage to the image of Ireland overseas".[8]

Cairncross has received several awards and honorary degrees from a multiple universities.[2]

• Honorary DLitt, University of Glasgow (2001)
• Honorary DSc, University of Birmingham (2002)
• European Women of Achievement Award (2002)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2003)
• Honorary Fellow, St Peter’s College Oxford (2003)
• Honorary degree, Loughborough University (2003)
• Honorary degree, University of London (2003)
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2004)
• Honorary degree, Cardiff University (2004)
• Honorary degree, University of Bristol (2004)
• Honorary DPhil, London Metropolitan University (2004)
• Honorary degree, Trinity College, Dublin (2005)
• Honorary DBA, Kingston University (2005)
• Honorary Life Fellow, Royal Society of Arts (2006)
• Honorary degree, University of York (2011)
• Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2015)
• Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) (2016)[10]
• President's Medal of the British Academy (2018)[11]