Dame Jennifer Gita Abramsky (born 7 October 1946) is a British media producer, philanthropist and Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. She was chairman of the UK's National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).
Early life and education
Born to a
British Jews family, she was the daughter of Miriam, a social worker and former communist who was on
Brick Lane during
Oswald Mosley's fascist marches, and
Chimen Abramsky, a professor of Jewish studies and rare book expert.
One of her grandfathers was Yehezkel Abramsky, a prominent Orthodox rabbi and scholar who headed the London Beth Din rabbinical court for 17 years.
In her youth Abramsky wished to become a Ballet dancer, going so far as to study with the Rambert Dance Company; even attempting to join the Royal Ballet but failing supposedly due to her short stature of only 5 ft.
Career
In 1969, she joined the BBC as a programmes operations assistant, and in 1973 was appointed as a producer of
The World at One. She became the first woman editor of the agenda-setting
Today programme, ran the first Gulf War Radio 4 News FM service, and went on to launch Britain's first continuous news and sport radio station, BBC Radio 5 Live, before launching the television channel BBC News 24.
She launched the BBC's online news website, news.bbc.co.uk. She was named Director of
BBC Radio in January 1999 and was subsequently promoted to the
BBC's executive board with overall responsibility for BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Live and the BBC's digital radio stations 1Xtra, BBC 7, 6 Music, 5 Live Sports Extra and the Asian Network; the three BBC orchestras based in England; and the
The Proms.
In 2006 she became Director of Audio and Music – adding online services, audio on demand and
to her remit of broadcast radio.
She had an annual programming budget of £236 million (about US$475m) and a staff of 1,681. Under her leadership, by the first three months of 2007 the BBC's radio stations had an audience share of 56.6 percent – compared with the 13.9 percent of listeners shared by all commercial radio broadcasters – and a reach of almost 33.5 million people – a record, according to The Guardian newspaper (9 July 2007). The paper listed Abramsky as the 18th most powerful person in the UK's media, though she had slipped from No. 11 in the paper's 2006 ranking.
Post-BBC
It was announced in June 2008 that Abramsky was retiring from the BBC after 39 years of service, to be replaced by
Tim Davie.
[BBC Press Office, "Tim Davie appointed as Director of BBC Audio & Music", 27 June 2008] After leaving the BBC she began focusing her efforts on preserving cultural sites. She currently serves on the board of trustees for the UK's largest youth drama festival, the Shakespeare Schools Festival and is a Fellow of The Radio Academy. She is Chair of Trustees of National Life Stories and of the Royal Academy of Music.
She previously served as Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund (now The National Lottery Heritage Fund) as well.
In 2016 she was appointed to the trustees of Canal & River Trust the charity responsible for 2000 miles of canals and rivers in England & Wales. In 2017 she was appointed to be the deputy Chair of Canal & River Trust.[C&RT Board of Trustees, "Jenny was appointed as a trustee in September 2016", Sept 2016] She is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, and is chair of the appointments committee. In April 2024, she was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of East Anglia.
Personal life
Abramsky married
Alasdair Liddell, a former head of planning for the NHS, in 1976. They had two children and were married until his death from an aneurism on 31 December 2012.
Honours
Abramsky was elevated from Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.
She was further elevated to Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours.
She was also one of the first nine people to be inducted into the Digital Radio Hall of Fame.
See also
Notes
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