Elan Closs Stephens

Dame Elan Closs Stephens DBE, DL, FLSW (née Roberts; born 16 June 1948) is a non-executive director and member for Wales on the BBC Board since 2017, and became its acting chairwoman from 27 June 2023.[1] She specialises in cultural and broadcasting policy. She is also the Electoral Commissioner for Wales;[2] Pro Chancellor of Aberystwyth University; and chair of the UNESCO’s International Prize for the Creative Economy jury.[3]

Dame

Elan Closs Stephens

DBE DL
Born
Elan Closs Roberts

(1948-06-16) 16 June 1948
Talysarn, Gwynedd, Wales
OccupationActing Chairwoman of the BBC from 27 June 2023
Children2

Life and career

Born in Talysarn in the Nantlle Valley, Gwynedd, to William Jones Roberts and Mair (née Closs) Roberts, she was educated at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle secondary school and Somerville College, Oxford.[4]

Stephens is professor emerita of communications and creative industries at Aberystwyth University's Department of Theatre, Film and Television.[5] In 2019, she was appointed Pro Chancellor of Aberystwyth University.[6]

Between 2009 and 2018, Stephens was a non-executive director of the Welsh Government's Strategic Delivery and Performance Board, chaired by the Permanent Secretary. In 2017, she was appointed chair of the Public Leaders Forum, which includes the chairs and CEOs of 41 Welsh Government arm's-length public bodies.

In 1998, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport appointed Stephens chair of the S4C Authority,[7] which was renewed for a second term until 2006. She was a Governor of the British Film Institute until 2007, and chair of its Audit and Governance during the refurbishment of the Southbank Centre National Film Theatre. She chaired the Wales Advisory Committee of the British Council until 2011, and was a board member of the Film Agency for Wales, and a trustee/board member of Arts & Business.[4]

Between 2001 and 2006, Stephens chaired Chwarae Teg, a body that promotes the economic development of women in Wales. In 2009 she was appointed by the then Welsh Assembly Government's Minister for Social Justice and Local Government to chair the Recovery Board for Isle of Anglesey County Council. In 2006, she chaired the Stephens Report on the financing and structure of the arts in Wales for the Welsh Assembly Government. A member of the Welsh Assembly Government's Strategic Delivery Performance Board (2009–2018), in October 2010 she was appointed a member for Wales of the BBC Trust (2010–17) and in 2017 was appointed member for Wales on the new BBC Board.[4][8]

Stephens was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2001 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting and the Welsh Language[4] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to the Welsh Government and broadcasting.[9]

Stephens was appointed High Sheriff of Dyfed for 2012/13[10] and is the Deputy Lieutenant of Dyfed (2019– ). An elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales since 2019,[11] Stephens is an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford; Aberystwyth University; Bangor University, and the University of Wales Trinity St David. She also holds Honorary Doctorates at the University of South Wales, the University of Wales and the Open University, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Fellow of the Institute of Welsh Affairs.  

Family

Elan Closs Roberts married Roy Stephens on 23 September 1972. He died in 1989. She has two children.[4]

References
  1. "Elan Closs Stephens appointed acting chair of BBC". BBC News. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  2. "Our Commissioners: Elan Closs Stephens". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  3. "The UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy". UNESCO. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  4. "Elan Closs Stephens". Welsh Assembly Government. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  5. "Elan Closs Stephens". Aberystwyth University. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  6. "Dame Elan Closs Stephens". Somerville College, Oxford. Retrieved 4 March 2021. In January 2020, she was appointed Pro Chancellor of Aberystwyth University.
  7. "Elan Closs Stephens". BBC Trust. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  8. https://www.thenational.scot/news/23563842.dame-elan-closs-stephens-new-chair-bbc-board/
  9. "No. 62666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 2019. p. B8.
  10. "No. 60087". The London Gazette. 15 March 2012. p. 5224.
  11. Wales, The Learned Society of. "Elan Closs Stephens". The Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
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