Professor Dame Carol Black has been reappointed as Chair of the British Library

Professor Dame Carol Black is currently Chair of the British Library, the Centre for Ageing Better, and Think Ahead, the Government’s fast-stream training programme for Mental Health Social Workers. She co-chairs NHS England/Improvement’s Expert Advisory Group on Employee Health and Wellbeing.

She is a member of RAND Europe’s Council of Advisers, and of the Boards of the Institute for Employment Studies and UKActive. In 2022 she was appointed Independent Adviser to the Government on combating the misuse of drugs. In 2019 she completed a seven-year term as Principal of Newnham College in Cambridge University, where she was a Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

Dame Carol has completed four independent reviews for the UK Government: of the health of the working-age population in 2008, of sickness absence in Britain in 2011 as co-chair; of employment outcomes of addiction to drugs or alcohol, or obesity, in 2016; and on illicit drugs, demand, supply and treatment (Part I published in February 2020; Part 2 published on 8 July 2021).

Dame Carol is a past-President of the Royal College of Physicians, of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and past-Chair of the Nuffield Trust for health policy. The Centre she established at the Royal Free Hospital in London is internationally renowned for research and treatment of connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma. She has been a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Chair of the British Library receives £35,180 per annum. This reappointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Dame Carol has declared no such activity.