Alice Rawsthorn

Alice Rawsthorn is an award winning design critic, and the author of critically acclaimed books, including Design as an Attitude and Hello World: Where Design Meets Life. Her weekly design column for the New York Times was syndicated worldwide for over a decade. Alice speaks on design at important global events including the TED conference in Vancouver and the World Economic Forum’s annual meetings in Davos. Born in Manchester and based in London, Alice spent her secondary education at three comprehensive schools in Hampshire, Lancashire and Essex, before studying law and art history at Cambridge University. She is chair of the boards of trustees of Chisenhale Gallery in London and The Hepworth Wakefield art gallery in Yorkshire, and was previously a trustee of Arts Council England, Whitechapel Gallery the contemporary dance group Michael Clark Company. A founding member of the Writers for Liberty campaign for human rights, Alice is also a member of the Honours Committee for Arts and Media. . An Honorary Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts, Alice was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to design and the arts.