Dame Helen Frances Ghosh, DCB (; ; Kirkby; born 21 February 1956) is a former British civil servant who has been Master of Balliol College, Oxford since 2018. She was previously Director-General of the

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

from November 2012 to April 2018. From 1979 to 2012 she was a British civil servant. She was Permanent Secretary at the Home Office from January 2011 to November 2012, and prior to that was Permanent Secretary at the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

(DEFRA) from November 2005 to the end of 2010. On appointment at DEFRA, she was the only female permanent secretary to head a major department of the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

Early life and education

Ghosh was born Helen Frances Kirkby in

Farnborough, Hampshire Farnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, part of the borough of Rushmoor and the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area. Farnborough was founded in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is ...

, in 1956, daughter of William Kirkby, a civil service scientist, and his wife, Eileen (née Howe), a librarian. She was educated at

Farnborough Hill Farnborough Hill is a Roman Catholic independent day school for 550 girls aged 11–18 located in Farnborough, Hampshire. The school was established by the Religious of Christian Education order of nuns in 1889 and moved to the current site whe ...

, an all-girls

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

. She studied modern history at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) degree in 1976. She then undertook

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

study at

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

, graduating with a Master of Letters (MLitt) in 1980; her

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

concerned the

history of Italy The history of Italy covers the ancient period, the Middle Ages, and the modern era. Since classical antiquity, ancient Etruscan civilization, Etruscans, various Italic peoples (such as the Latins, Samnites, and Umbri), Celts, ''Magna Graecia'' ...

in the 6th century.

Career

Ghosh joined the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

in 1979 as an administration trainee. From 1981 to 1983 she was assistant private secretary to Michael Heseltine, the Secretary of State for the Environment. She was private secretary to the Minister for Environment and Housing from 1986 to 1988, and was head of the Housing Policy and Home Ownership Team from 1992 to 1995. In July 1995 she joined the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

on loan, as deputy director of the Efficiency Unit. She left the post in May 1997 to become director of the London East and European Programmes at the

Government Office for London Government Offices for the English Regions (GOs) were established in 1994 by the John Major government. Until 2011, they were the primary means by which a wide range of policies and programmes of the Government of the United Kingdom were delivere ...

. Between May 1999 and November 1999, she was head of the New Deal for Communities Programme at the

Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department ...

. She then joined the Department for Work and Pensions as director of the Children's Group. She rejoined the Cabinet Office in October 2001, as head of Central Secretariat, and, in 2003, became director general for Corporate Services at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), where she played an important part in the transformation programme merging the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise to form the new department. She was appointed permanent secretary at the

(Defra) in November 2005. She replaced

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 ...

as permanent secretary at the Home Office in January 2011. In November 2012, she stepped down from her role at the Home Office to become director general at the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. In April 2018, Ghosh left that role to become Master of Balliol College, Oxford, succeeding Drummond Bone.

Board memberships

Ghosh was a board member of the National School for Government, and a committee member and former chair of the Blackfriars Overseas Aid Trust, based in Oxford. She was elected a

Rhodes Trust Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* on ...

ee in 2011.

Honours

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2008. In 2010, '' The Tablet'' named her as one of Britain's most influential

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Personal life

In 1979, she married

Peter Ghosh Peter R. Ghosh (; ; born December 1954, Sutton Coldfield) is a British historian, specialising in the history of ideas and historiography. Career Ghosh has been Jean Duffield Fellow in Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford since 1982. He ...

, an associate professor of Modern History at Oxford, who has, since 1982, been Jean Duffield Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

. They have a son, William, and a daughter, Olivia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Helen 1956 births Living people Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford British civil servants British Roman Catholics Dames Commander of the Order of the Bath Civil servants in the Department of the Environment Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Civil servants in the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions Civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford People from Farnborough, Hampshire Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Home Department Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Private secretaries in the British Civil Service People educated at Farnborough Hill National Trust people Rhodes Trustees