Frances Cairncross is a former economics journalist, author and academic administrator. She is currently chair of the Court of Heriot-Watt University and a trustee at the Natural History Museum. She was Rector of Exeter College, Oxford University; a senior editor on The Economist; and principal economics columnist for The Guardian. In 2014 she was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to education. She is the author of a number of books, including The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution is Changing our Lives and Costing the Earth: The Challenge for Governments, the Opportunities for Business.