Frances Cairncross

Frances Anne Cairncross CBE (born 30 August 1944, Otley, England) is a British economist, journalist and academic. Cairncross read Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford, graduating in 1965, and holds an MA in Economics from Brown University, Rhode Island.

Cairncross became Rector of Exeter College, Oxford in October 2004. Previously, she was on the staff of "The Economist" for 20 years, most recently as management editor. Cairncross was on the staff of "The Guardian" from 1973 to 1984, and before that spent periods on the financial staff of "The Times", "The Banker" and "The Observer". Cairncross chaired the Economic and Social Research Council between 2001 and 2007 and was President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (2005–06). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Senior Fellow at the School of Public Policy, UCLA.

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

She is a non-executive director of Stramongate Ltd, and a regular presenter of BBC Radio 4's "Analysis" programme. In 2004-05, Cairncross held the honorary post of High Sheriff of Greater London.

Frances Cairncross is the daughter of the economist Sir Alexander Kirkland Cairncross (a.k.a. Alec Cairncross) and the niece of John Cairncross and is married to Hamish McRae, an associate editor of "The Independent". Cairncross holds honorary degrees from Trinity College Dublin, City University, and the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Loughborough and Kingston.