Baroness Lane-Fox

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho was installed as the sixth Chancellor of The Open University at the Milton Keynes degree ceremony on 10th September 2014, succeeding Lord Puttnam who stepped down after seven years in the role.

Martha Lane Fox has built her career around the digital world, making her mark as one of the founders of the internationally recognised leisure and travel website, LastMinute.com.

From 2009 she served as the government’s UK Digital Champion, leading a drive to get more people and services engaged with the online world and in 2012 she launched a charity – Go ON UK – which aims to plug the digital skills gap among British adults. Following Martha’s Dimbleby Lecture in 2015, she founded and today runs the independent think tank Doteveryone.

In addition to her work with the government, Martha is a non-executive board member of television company Channel 4 and retailer Marks & Spencer, as well as a patron for human rights charity Reprieve.

In 2013, recognizing her contribution to charity and furthering technology Martha was awarded a CBE and become a life peer, making her the youngest woman ever to sit in the House of Lords (now she is the second youngest!).