Sara Nathan (broadcaster)

Sara Catherine Nathan (born 16 February 1956) is a former British broadcaster who now sits on the boards of a number of public bodies.

She was educated at Wimbledon High School, Cambridge University and Stanford University which she attended on a Harkness Fellowship. Her college at Cambridge was New Hall and she was vice-president of Cambridge Union.

Broadcasting

Sara Nathan was a BBC journalist for 15 years on Newsnight, Breakfast Time and The Money Programme. She was on the launch team for Radio 5 Live and was the first editor of its morning programme. After that she became Britain's first female editor of a TV network news programme when she became Editor of Channel 4 News in 1995, a post she held until 1997.

She was a Member of the Radio Authority from 1999 to 2003, a founder board member of OFCOM, where her term ended at the end of 2007, and has been an Editorial Adviser to the BBC Trust since January 2008. She has also served on the board of ATVOD, the regulatory agency designated by OFCOM as the "co-regulator" of television on demand (VOD).

Other roles

Sara Nathan was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Council. She was a Commissioner for the Marshall Scholarships until December 2006. She was on the Regulatory Decision Committee of the Financial Services Authority from 2001 to 2007, and was a member of the ICSTIS PhonepayPlus Committee (which regulates premium rate telephony) until November 2008. She chaired The Animal Procedures Committee, a body that advises the British Home Secretary on matters related to animal experimentation in the UK, until its abolition in 2012. She was a lay member of the Judicial Appointments Commission from January 2006 to January 2012.

Since April 2012 she has been a Public Appointments Assessor, chairing the appointment of Chairs of public bodies, reporting to David Normington, the First Civil Service Commissioner, and a Chair of disciplinary hearings for the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Sara Nathan was appointed to the board of the Solicitors' Regulation Authority in January 2010. She is a trustee of Why Me?, a charity promoting Restorative Justice.

She was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours, announced on 14 June 2008.

Sara lives in Acton, London with her husband, the composer and Director of Music at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Malcolm Singer. They have two adult children.