Genista McIntosh (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall)

Genista (Jenny) McIntosh has held a number of senior positions in major arts organisations She was Executive Director of the Royal National Theatre between 1990 and 1996 and again between 1997 and 2002 and was Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House in 1997. She was Principal of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama from 2002 to 2003. Between 1972 and 1984, and again between 1986 and 1990, she held several posts at the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was a founder Trustee of NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) from 1998 to 2005 and has served on the Boards of many arts organisations including Welsh National Opera, the Almeida Theatre, the Young Vic Theatre, the National Opera Studio and Sheffield Theatres. She was Deputy Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company until 2021.

Genista holds honorary doctorates from the University of York, the University of Middlesex and City University and received an Honorary Fellowship from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2003. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 1999 she was created a Life Peer, taking the title Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall, and now devotes most of her time to the House of Lords, where she is a Deputy Speaker.