17 April 2025
Former British civil servant and Director-General of the National Trust, Dame Helen Ghosh, who is now Master of Balliol College, Oxford, is to deliver the Royal Agricultural University’s (RAU) esteemed Bledisloe Lecture next month.
Dame Helen, who spent more than 30 years working in a variety of Government departments and held senior positions within both the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Home Office, will address an audience in the Boutflour Hall at the University’s Cirencester campus on Wednesday 21st May.
Her lecture, entitled 'Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reasons – balancing politics and evidence in dealing with the most challenging issues in the natural environment’ will share insights into her fascinating career and her background, as well as looking at future challenges.
RAU Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter McCaffery said: “We are delighted that Dame Helen has agreed to come and deliver our signature annual lecture. Her first-hand experience in supporting successive Governments at the highest level, and as head of the National Trust, means she is extremely well positioned to speak with authority and understanding of how we can best tackle the significant natural environmental challenges that face us.”
Dame Helen worked at the very centre of Government for more than three decades. She was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and was then Permanent Secretary at the Home Office when Teresa May was Home Secretary.
She also worked in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Cabinet Office, HM Revenue and Customs, and the Department for Work and Pensions. While a civil servant, she worked on key environmental policies including climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the protection of habitat for endangered species.
She left the Civil Service in 2012 to become Director-General of the National Trust and subsequently took up her role as Master of Balliol in April 2018.
The Bledisloe Lecture, which is an annual event at the RAU, is named after eminent Royal Agricultural College (RAC) alumnus Charles Bathurst, the first Lord Bledisloe (1867-1958), who was also Governor General of New Zealand in the early 1900s. He was deeply interested in agriculture and forestry and was one of the staunchest supporters of the then Royal Agricultural College.
Professor McCaffery added: “As we celebrate our 180th anniversary this year, we can reflect that our University – the very first agricultural college in the English-speaking world – is as relevant today as it always has been.
“Founded in 1845 to help meet a national emergency – how to feed the country at a time of burgeoning urbanisation and industrialisation – we are immensely proud of the contribution our world-wide family of 17,000+ alumni has made as leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators in agriculture and the land-based sector.”
The RAU's 2025 Bledisloe Lecture will be held in the University’s Boutflour Hall (GL7 6JS) from 6pm on Wednesday 21st May 2025. Previous speakers have included Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, Helen Browning OBE, and Teresa Wickham.
The lecture will start promptly at 6.30pm and there will be time after Dame Helen’s lecture for audience questions. It is free to attend, and all are welcome, but please visit https://180th-bledisloe-lecture.eventbrite.co.uk to register for tickets.