- Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar
Usha Kumari Prashar, Baroness Prashar, CBE, (born
29 June 1948 ) is across bench member of theHouse of Lords . Since the 1970s, she has served as a director or chairman of a variety of public and private sector organisations. She was appointed as chairman of theJudicial Appointments Commission in October 2005.Prashar was born in
Kenya , and came to Yorkshire with her family in the 1960s. She was educated at Wakefield Girls' High School, becoming head girl in 1967. She read politics at theUniversity of Leeds and undertook postgraduate studies in social administration at theUniversity of Glasgow .Prashar was a director of the
Runnymede Trust from 1976 to 1984, a fellow with thePolicy Studies Institute from 1984 to 1986, and a director of theNational Council for Voluntary Organisations from 1986 to 1991. She was executive chairman of the Parole Board of England and Wales from October 1997 to October 2000. Having been appointed aCivil Service Commissioner in 1990, she wasFirst Civil Service Commissioner from August 2000 to 2005. She was chairman of theNational Literacy Trust from 2001 to 2005. She is also a governor of theDitchley Foundation , which organises conferences at its stately home in Oxfordshire. [cite web
url=http://www.ditchley.co.uk/page/64/the-governors.htm
title=The Ditchley Foundation: The Governors]She was a
non-executive director ofChannel Four Television from 1992 to 1999, ofUNITE Group plc from 2001 to 2004, and became a non-executive director ofITV plc in February 2005. She became a governor ofDe Montfort University in 1996, and became its Chancellor in 2001. She became a trustee of theBBC World Service Trust in 2002, and is chairman of theRoyal Commonwealth Society .She was awarded a CBE in 1994 and made a
Life Peer in1999 as Baroness Prashar, ofRunnymede in the County ofSurrey .References
External links
* [http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/detail.asp?ReleaseID=172274&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True Inaugural Judicial Appointments Commission Chair] (GNN announcement,
6 October 2005 )
* [http://www.itvplc.com/itv/news/releases/pr2005/2005-02-08a/ Appointment] as non-executive director ofITV plc (8 February 2005 )
* [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/minutes/990726/ldminute.htm Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords] House of Lords minutes of proceedings,26 July 1999
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_prashar Baroness Prashar's profile on TheyWorkForYou.com]
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