James Boyle (born 29 March 1946) was Chairman of the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

until 2016, Chairman of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

in Scotland and was formerly Chairman of the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

, Chairman of the Scottish Government's Cultural Commission, Controller of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, Head of

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

and co-founder of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World City of Literature and World City of Music Programs. He has also served on the board of

Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

and as a UK Civil Service Commissioner. He was educated at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

(BA, 1969) and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(MA, 1971). In March 2016 Boyle was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, Scotland's National Academy for science and letters.

BBC Executive

Boyle spent more than 25 years at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, including four years as head of

and four years as controller of

. At Radio Scotland he oversaw sweeping changes to the station's programming line-up. Some of those changes generated a mixed mailbag from listeners. However, after the revamp the station was named UK Radio Station of the Year at the broadcasting industry's Sony Awards. In 1996 Boyle was appointed to head

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...

, perhaps the UK's premier radio station. Boyle overhauled almost the entire schedule. Critics outside and inside the BBC questioned the number of changes, and their timing, and he was nicknamed "MacBirt", in reference to his being a Scottish version of BBC Director-General Lord Birt. Nonetheless, many of the new shows received critical acclaim, including

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

Home Truths ''Home Truths'' is a weekly BBC Radio 4 programme which began on 11 April 1998 and was usually hosted by the DJ John Peel until his death in October 2004. In the Saturday 910am slot, it gradually became one of Radio 4's most successful program ...

, arts programme Front Row, and current affairs show

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

. The new programmes subsequently won a record 6 gold Sony awards in one year and eight other silver and bronze awards. Boyle announced his departure from Radio Four in 2000, leading

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

newspaper to run the headline: “He Came, He Conquered, He Quit.” Just after Boyle left, Radio Four, like Radio Scotland before it, was named Radio Station of the Year at the Sony Awards.

The Scottish Arts Council

After leaving the BBC, Boyle served as Chairman of the

(SAC), the agency that has control over the Scottish government's arts budget. Arts Council Chief Executive Tessa Jackson left shortly afterwards. He was then appointed Chair of the Cultural Commission, a body set up to review Scottish arts and cultural funding and provide recommendations for the next quarter century. The centerpiece of the Cultural Commission's report – issued after a year of investigation and deliberations – was a recommendation that the government increase arts spending by £100 million (approximately $190 million), enshrine "cultural rights," and overhaul and simplify the arts bureaucracy (including, ironically, by getting rid of the SAC, which Boyle had just left). Boyle had a public run-in with Scottish Culture Minister

Patricia Ferguson Patricia Josephine Ferguson (born 24 September 1958) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow West since 2024. Ferguson previously served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Maryhil ...

when she announced her support for an Academy of Scotland just before the commission was set to unveil a similar policy. Boyle denounced Ferguson's "lack of integrity." After the Cultural Commission report was published, Ferguson was publicly accused of trying to bury it. Eventually, the Scottish government adopted a version of the report's main proposals, increasing arts spending by £20 million, restructuring the public arts agencies, and agreeing to implement cultural rights.

National Library of Scotland

Boyle was appointed Chairman of the

on 25 October 2012.http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/books/former-bbc-controller-james-boyle-to-lead-national-library-of-scotland-reorganisation-1-2598552 NLS is one of the world's leading research libraries and one of Scotland's premier cultural institutions. The Edinburgh-based library's collections hold about 15 million printed items, 100,000 manuscripts, two million maps and 25,000 newspaper and magazine titles. The collection includes copies of the Gutenberg Bible, the letter which Charles Darwin submitted with the manuscript of Origin of Species and the First Folio of Shakespeare. NLS serves as the

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

library of Scotland, which under the

Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (c. 28) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates the legal deposit of publications in the United Kingdom. The bill for this act was a private member's bill. This act was passed to up ...

entitles the Library to request a free copy of every book published in the UK within one year of its publication.

Public service and other appointments

Boyle’s career in public service includes many appointments. Until 2008, he served as a Commissioner on the UK's

Civil Service Commission A civil service commission (also known as a Public Service Commission) is a government agency or public body that is established by the constitution, or by the legislature, to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, overse ...

, the body tasked with appointing Britain's senior civil servants. Boyle was Chairman of the

City of Literature UNESCO's City of Literature programme is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. The ''Network'' was launched in 2004, and now has member cities in seven creative fields. The other creative fields are: Crafts and Folk Arts, Design, Film ...

Initiative, and spearheaded the effort that led to Edinburgh being selected by

as the inaugural City of Literature. He was also a co-founder of the

City of Music Program that led to Glasgow being selected as the first World City of Music. Currently Boyle is a director of the London public relations company Franklin Rae and for eight years was a member of the board of governors (known as the Court) of Edinburgh's

. In 2008 he was appointed Chairman of the

's Scottish National Committee. He has also held non-executive directorships on the boards of media company Wark Clements and Anareva, a boutique search consultancy. In 2005, the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

awarded Boyle with the degree of Doctor honoris causa. Boyle previously received honorary doctorates from

and the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

. He is also an honorary professor at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

Personal life

When at the BBC, Boyle wrote many scripts for radio and a number of TV plays for educational television. He collects first editions of twentieth century literature. Boyle and his wife Marie live in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. He has three sons, four grandsons and three grand-daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, James 1946 births Living people Alumni of the University of East Anglia Alumni of the University of Strathclyde BBC Radio 4 controllers BBC Radio 4 BBC executives British radio executives People educated at Holyrood Secondary School Scottish broadcasters Scottish public relations people