Sara Catherine Nathan (born 16 February 1956) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

broadcaster who now sits on the boards of a number of public bodies.

Early life and education

Nathan was educated at

Wimbledon High School Wimbledon High School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private girls' day school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, South West (London sub region), South West London. It is a Girls' Day School Trust school and is a member of the Girls' ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

which she attended on a

Harkness Fellowship The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several co ...

. Her college at Cambridge was

New Hall New Hall may refer to: * New Hall, Fazakerley, a historic complex that was originally a model village, in Liverpool, England * New Hall, Woodford, a 17th-century cottage in Woodford, Greater Manchester, England * New Hall moated site, a scheduled ...

and she was vice-president of the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the oldest ...

Career

Broadcasting

Nathan was a BBC journalist for 15 years on ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

'', '' Breakfast Time'' and ''

The Money Programme ''The Money Programme'' is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC Two which ran between April 1966 and November 2010. It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" (financial journalists) William Davi ...

''. She was on the launch team for

Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport i ...

and was the first editor of its morning programme. After that she became Britain's first female editor of a TV network news programme when she became editor of

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

in 1995, a post she held until 1997. She was a member of the

Radio Authority Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...

from 1999 to 2003, a founder board member of

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

, where her term ended at the end of 2007, and was an Editorial Adviser to the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

from January 2008 until its abolition in 2016. She has also served on the board of ATVOD, the regulatory agency designated by Ofcom as the "co-regulator" of television on demand. Nathan was a Senior Hearings Manager in BBC HR – mostly working on Equal Pay – from November 2018 to August 2019.

Other roles

She was a member of the

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the Unite ...

and of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Council. She was a Commissioner for the

Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarsh ...

s until December 2006. She was on the Regulatory Decision Committee of the

Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 1985 ...

from 2001 to 2007, and was a member of the ICSTIS PhonepayPlus Committee (which regulates premium rate telephony) until November 2008. She chaired The

Animal Procedures Committee The Animal Procedures Committee advised the British Home Secretary on matters related to animal testing in the UK. The function of the committee was made a statutory requirement by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (the ASPA), which man ...

, a body that advises the British

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

on matters related to

animal experimentation Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of animals, as model organisms, in experiments that seek answers to scientific and medical questions. This approach can be contrasted ...

in the UK, until its abolition in 2012. She was a lay member of the

Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland. ...

from January 2006 to January 2012. From April 2012 to 2016 she was a Public Appointments Assessor, chairing the appointment of Chairs of public bodies, reporting to

David Normington Sir David John Normington, (born 18 October 1951) is a retired British civil servant. He served as the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education and Skills from 2001 to 2005, and then of the Home Office until 2011. From 2011 until 2 ...

, the First Civil Service Commissioner, and a Chair of disciplinary hearings for the

Nursing and Midwifery Council The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the regulator for nursing and midwifery professions in the UK. The NMC maintains a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses and nursing associates eligible to pra ...

. She was a member of the board of the Solicitors' Regulation Authority from 2010 to 2015. She was also a trustee of Why Me?, a charity promoting

restorative justice Restorative justice is a community-based approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims, offenders and communities. In doing so, restorative justice practitioners work to ensure that offenders take responsibility for their ac ...

. In 2015, Nathan co-founded a charity Refugees at Home, which finds hosts in Britain for destitute asylum-seekers and refugees. She has since hosted 44 refugees (as of May 2025) from many countries including Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt. The charity has made over 6,750 placements and hosted for over 500,000 individual person nights. She became a trustee of the

Cambridge Union Society The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic Debate, debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the ...

in May 2020 and chair of EASE, an asylum-seeker drop-in based in Acton at much the same time. She was a tribunal chair for the

until April 2020. She has been a tribunal chair for Social Work England since December 2019 and the same for the General Optical Counsel since January 2025. She joined the King's Counsel Selection Panel in 2020 and was chair of the appointments board for the Accountants' Regulatory Board at the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of December 2024, it has over 210,000 memb ...

(ICAEW) for three years.

Honours

She was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

, announced on 14 June 2008.

Personal life

She lives in

Acton, London Acton () is a town in West London, England, within the London Borough of Ealing. It is west of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, its four Wards of the United Kingdom, wards, East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton ...

, with her husband, the composer and now-retired director of music at the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a specialist music school in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, England, founded in 1963 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. The current director of music is the British classical pianist Ashley Wass. The school is one ...

, Malcolm Singer. They have two adult children and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, Sara 1956 births Living people Alumni of New Hall, Cambridge BBC people British radio journalists British women radio presenters British women television journalists English broadcasters English television journalists English women journalists Harkness Fellows Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Wimbledon High School People from Acton, London Stanford University alumni