Alumna of the Year voting is now open and we are delighted to share that our very own Baroness Manningham-Buller has been shortlisted this year!
Voting closes on Friday 7 July and we would like to welcome all of our students, staff and parents to vote here.
Baroness Manningham-Buller (Eliza) has had a uniquely impressive and fascinating career, which has led her to her current role as a Life Peer member of the House of Lords and Chair of the Conduct Committee.
She is currently also co-president of Chatham House, a renowned Think Tank that helps governments and societies build a sustainably secure and just world.
She is a retired British intelligence officer who worked in the Security Service (MI5) for more than 30 years, principally focusing on international and domestic counter-terrorism. After stints in the US and as Head of the then newly-created Irish counter-terrorist section, Eliza was promoted to the Security Services Management Board in 1993 and later, Director of Irish counter-terrorism. In 2002, she became Director General of MI5, and only the second woman ever to hold this position.
After leaving the Security Service, Eliza served as Chairman of the Council of Imperial College. She was also a member, and later Chair, of the Board of Governors of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation that helps solve urgent health issues by funding curiosity-driven research.
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the Queen’s 2005 Birthday Honours, and in 2014, the Queen appointed her a Lady of the Garter (LG). In 2011, she gave Reith Lectures on ‘Securing Freedom’ during the tenth anniversary of the United States 9/11 attacks.
