Previous Bristol Distinguished Address events
Find podcasts, video interviews and event recordings from past Bristol Distinguished Address Series events.
2026 events
From Evolution to Activism
Highlights from our LGBT+ History Month panel exploring how ideas of what is "natural" have been constructed, challenged and reclaimed to drive social change.
2025 events
Between Digital and Physical Worlds: artists reimaging reality
Verity and a panel of artists discover how immersive art, from VR to AR, is breaking boundaries and reimagining storytelling.
Navigating change: leadership, creativity, and the future of publishing
Explore how technology, leadership and policy are transforming the creative industries in this conversation with Stephen Page, former CEO of Faber & Faber.
Thriving While Leading: Global Majority voices from health and care
A BDAS panel on inclusive care systems, featuring voices from policy, community, and lived experience in health and social care.
From Ground to Orbit: building the South West space economy
Exploring how the South West can become a leader in innovation, sustainability and economic growth through space-enabled technologies.
Reimagining Our Rivers
BDAS x Festival of Nature 2025, exploring the year's theme of 'Water'.
A Tale of Two Cities: Giving Youth a Fighting Chance
Two organisations in Bristol and Canada working together to support vulnerable youth and reduce violence.
Nick Hounsfield in conversation with Maggy Blagrove
The founder of The Wave talks about blue health and the power of surfing.
2024 events
Celebrating Dr Guy Bailey
A celebration of the life of UWE Bristol Honorary Graduate, Dr Guy Bailey OBE.
Crossing Generations with Dr Edson Burton and Guests
A Black History Month Celebration Special, with Dr Edson Burton and guests.
Walking as Time and Space: an Evening with Sir Richard Long
A conversation with celebrated Bristol land artist, sculptor and UWE alum, part of Being Human Festival 2024.
Shirine Khoury-Haq: a Human Approach to Leadership
Hear from Co-op Group's CEO and UWE Bristol alum, Shirine Khoury-Haq, as she shares her ideas on the values that underpin good business.
Danielle Mulder
BBC Group's Director of Sustainability, Danielle explained how the BBC is becoming nature positive.
The Women's Work Lab
A conversation with Camilla Rigby and Rachel Mostyn, co-founders and CEOs of Bristol-based business the Women's Work Lab, as they explain how and why they are doing well by doing good.
Poku Osei
Poku Osei, founder and CEO of award-winning social enterprise Babbasa, joined us as part of the spring 2024 Bristol Distinguished Address Series.
Levi Roots
Chef, musician and entrepreneur Levi Roots shared his captivating story in conversation at the Watershed as part of the 2024 Bristol Distinguished Address Series.
2023 events
Jonny Keeling
Jonny, Head of the BBC Natural History Unit, joined us as part of the Autumn 2023 Bristol Distinguished Address series.
Jenny Garrett
Jenny Garrett, renowned TEDx speaker, joins us to talk about her work on race equality, anti racism and owning your cultural capitals and identity.
Aisha Thomas
Aisha, founder of Representation Matters Ltd, joined us in conversation with Dr Craig Johnston as part of the Spring 2023 Bristol Distinguished Address Series.
Grant Mansfield
Join Grant Mansfield and Lynn Barlow in conversation, as they discuss The Plimsoll Story.
Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
Join a panel of guests from the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity including Advanced Clinical Practitioner Vicki Brown.
2022 events
I.Stephanie Boyce - 2 March 2022
Stephanie delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled "Dare to Dream".
Margaret Casely-Hayford - 2 February 2022
Margaret Casely-Hayford, Chair, Shakespeare's Globe, delivered a lecture titled "Trust and Governance: where to now?"
2021 events
Anne Jessopp - 3 November 2021
Anne Jessopp, Chief Executive, The Royal Mint, delivered a lecture titled "Reinventing The Royal Mint".
Mike Haigh - 20 October 2021
Mike Haigh, Executive Chair, Mott MacDonald, delivered a lecture titled "Recovery from the global pandemic; the impact of accelerated megatrends".
Dr Darren Henley OBE - 6 October 2021
Dr Darren Henley OBE, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, delivered a lecture titled "What is the role of arts and culture in a post-pandemic world?"
Theresa Wise – 22 September 2021
Theresa Wise, CEO, The Royal Television Society, delivered a lecture titled "The Future of Television".
Ben Osborn - 8 September 2021
Ben Osborn, UK Country Manager and Managing Director, Pfizer UK delivered a lecture titled "The power of the mission: how we can apply the lessons of the pandemic to make the UK a global life sciences superpower"
Professor Lyndsay Duthie - 10 March 2021
Professor Lyndsay Duthie, CEO of The Production Guild of Great Britain delivered a lecture titled "Pushing past the pandemic, what's next for film and television?"
Jacqueline de Rojas - 10 February 2021
Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, President of techUK and Digital Leaders, and Co-Chair of IoC, delivered a lecture titled “Diversity and inclusion - why it's never been more important.”
Peter Lord – 27 January 2021
Peter Lord, Co-founder and Creative Director of Aardman Animations, delivered a lecture titled “A life in animation: getting going to letting go”.
2020 events
Perminder Mann – 11 November 2020
Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled “Be Your Authentic Self”.
Doug and Dame Mary Perkins – 4 November 2020
Co-founders of Specsavers, Doug and Dame Mary Perkins, delivered a lecture titled "Building the World's Largest High Street Optics and Audiology Brand."
Panel Discussion: NHS Nightingale Hospital Bristol
For the first of the virtual Bristol Distinguished Address Series, also the Annual Bolland Lecture, we were delighted to host a panel discussion on Bristol’s Nightingale Hospital.
Lisa Opie – 11 March 2020
Lisa Opie, Managing Director of BBC Studios UK Production, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled "TV as a force for good.”
Xavier Brice – 26 February 2020
Xavier Brice, Chief Executive, Sustrans, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled "Living and moving well together”.
Katherine Bennett – 12 February 2020
Katherine Bennett CBE, Senior Vice President, Airbus & Chair, Western Gateway, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "What does internationalisation mean in C21st for global corporations?".
Bevis Watts – 29 January 2020
Dr Bevis Watts, Chief Executive of Triodos Bank UK delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "Bankers must become eco-warriors".
2019 events
Bruce Carnegie-Brown – 13 November 2019
Bruce Carnegie-Brown, President of CMI and Chairman of Lloyds delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "21st century management”.
Arabel Bailey – 6 November 2019
Arabel Bailey, Managing Director of Innovation and Consulting Services at Accenture, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled "Surviving and thriving in a disrupted world".
Andrew Jennings – 23 October 2019
Andrew Jennings, Chairman, Board Member and Senior Advisor, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "The changing retail landscape and how to succeed."
Deanna Oppenheimer – 9 October 2019
Deanna Oppenheimer, Founder of Cameoworks and Chair of Hargreaves Lansdown, delivered the University's prestigious Annual Bolland Lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series with her talk titled "A tale of tech in two cities".
Laura Wade-Gery – 6 March 2019
Laura Wade-Gery, Non-Executive Director of John Lewis, British Land and NHS Improvement, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled "Human and digital - the challenges and power of harnessing both."
Joe Garner – 27 February 2019
Joe Garner, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Building Society delivered a lecture titled 'Leading for mutual good'.
Ruth Hunt – 13 February 2019
Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive of Stonewall delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "Achieving social change".
Warren East CBE – 30 January 2019
Warren East CBE, Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "How can the UK be a natural home for global engineering and technology champions?"
John Allan CBE – 16 January 2019
John Allan CBE, President of the CBI and Chair of Tesco plc and Barratt Developments plc delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "Britain – what does the future hold?"
2018 events
Kevin Ellis – 17 October 2018
Kevin Ellis, Chair and Senior Partner, PwC UK, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "The role of business in a disrupted world, Why business needs to work harder to show its positive contribution to society.”
Ashok Vaswani – 3 October 2018
Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays, delivered the University's prestigious Annual Bolland Lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series with his talk entitled "Digital transformation of banking".
Tim Parker – 11 April 2018
Tim Parker, Chair of the Post Office, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "What makes a good Chair?".
Nick Wheeler – 21 March 2018
Nick Wheeler, Founder and Chairman, Charles Tyrwhitt, delivered a lecture entitled "A shirty tale - from Bristol to London in 31 years".
Susanna Dinnage – 7 March 2018
Susanna Dinnage, Global President of Animal Planet, delivered a lecture entitled "The power of purpose-driven brands in a world of infinite choice".
Andrew Langdon – 28 February 2018
Andrew Langdon QC, Barrister, Guildhall Chambers delivered a lecture entitled "The Bar: independent advocacy operating in the public interest".
Inga Beale DBE – 21 February 2018
Inga Beale DBE, CEO of Lloyds delivered a lecture entitled "Enabling human progress in a digital world".
Simon Fox – 7 February 2018
Simon Fox, Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror delivered a lecture entitled "The importance of professional journalism in a post-truth world".
2017 events
Karen Blackett OBE – 6 December 2017
Karen Blackett OBE, Chairwoman of MediaCom UK, delivered a lecture entitled "Unlocking and understanding the UK consumer".
George Weston – 22 November 2017
George Weston, Chief Executive of Associated British Foods plc delivered a lecture entitled “Value of the industrial food system”.
Richard Gleave – 15 November 2017
Richard Gleave, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer of Public Health England delivered a lecture entitled “Evidence informed leadership – how does evidence influence the leadership of health organisations?”.
Tony Hayward – 8 November 2017
Tony Hayward, Chairman of Glencore delivered a lecture entitled “The great energy revolution - fact or fiction”.
Juliet Davenport OBE – 25 October 2017
Juliet Davenport OBE, CEO and Founder of Good Energy delivered a lecture entitled “Science, climate and politics: the perilous path to decarbonisation”.
Sacha Romanovitch – 11 October 2017
Sacha Romanovitch, CEO of Grant Thornton UK LLP, provided the address at the Annual Bolland lecture entitled “Shaping a vibrant economy where no one is left behind – how we create a new normal”.
Rob Law MBE – 27 September 2017
Rob Law MBE, Chief Executive of Trunki, delivered a lecture entitled "Building a global brand".
Dame Helen Ghosh – 5 April 2017
Dame Helen Ghosh, Director-General of the National Trust, delivered a lecture entitled "Why should anyone be led by you?".
Fred Jones – 22 March 2017
Fred Jones, Head of Cities at Uber, delivered a lecture entitled "More people in fewer cars".
Baroness Shriti Vadera – 8 March 2017
Baroness Shriti Vadera, Chair of Santander UK, delivered a lecture entitled "Post-Globalism".
John Pullinger – 22 February 2017
John Pullinger, Chief Executive, UK Statistics Authority, delivered a lecture entitled "Mobilising the power of data to help Britain (and the world) make better decisions".
Paul Geddes – 8 February 2017
Paul Geddes, Chief Executive of Direct Line Group, delivered a lecture entitled "The future of brands in a post-truth world".
Peter Cheese – 1 February 2017
Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), delivered a lecture entitled "Future of work and organisations".
Lord Karan Bilimoria – 25 January 2017
Lord Bilimoria, Chairman at Cobra Beer, delivered a lecture entitled "Boldness in business".
2016 events
Simon Belsham – 30 November 2016
Simon Belsham, CEO at notonthehighstreet.com, delivered a lecture entitled "What does it take for a creative small business to thrive?"
Michael Ward – 16 November 2016
Michael Ward, Managing Director of Harrods, delivered a lecture entitled "Why luxury is relevant to the UK economy and the barriers faced by developing companies.”
Lady Barbara Judge CBE – 9 November 2016
Lady Barbara Judge CBE, Chair, Institute of Directors and Deputy Chairman of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee, delivered a lecture entitled “The future of nuclear.”
Vicky Pryce – 19 October 2016
Vicky Pryce, Board Member, Centre for Economics and Business Research, delivered a lecture entitled "Post-Brexit Britain – the road ahead".
Lucy Armstrong – 12 October 2016
Lucy Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer, The Alchemists, delivered a lecture entitled “The certain challenge of managing in uncertain times”.
Vikki Heywood CBE – 5 October 2016
Vikki Heywood CBE, Chairman, The Royal Society of Arts, delivered a lecture entitled “Enriching Britain - through our creativity and heritage”.
Baroness Dido Harding – 28 September 2016
Baroness Dido Harding of Winscombe, Chief Executive of TalkTalk Group delivered the University's prestigious Annual Bolland Lecture entitled "The digital revolution: how Britain can lead and what it means for today’s students".
Mark Stewart – 21 September 2016
Mark Stewart, General Manager and HR Director at Airbus, delivered a lecture entitled "Developing the right skills for the future of the UK aerospace industry”.
Older BDAS events
View a list of the leaders of industry who spoke at BDAS from 2008 to early 2016.
Older BDAS eventsYou may also be interested in
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