Laura Trevelyan appointed Cardiff University Chancellor
19 February 2025
Former BBC journalist and leading advocate for the Caribbean’s reparatory justice agenda, Laura Trevelyan, has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Cardiff University.
Laura, who studied journalism at Cardiff and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the University in 2022 in recognition of her service to international journalism, succeeds the late Baroness Jenny Randerson in the role.
The Chancellor is the University’s most senior honorary position and includes presiding at graduation and other key ceremonial duties.
“It’s hard to express how honoured and delighted I am by this appointment,” said Laura.
Cardiff has shaped the course of my life and I can’t thank the University enough for bestowing this honour upon me. I cannot wait to serve Cardiff and be an ambassador for the institution which has given me so much.
Laura is one of the UK’s and America’s most respected journalists, enjoying a 30-year career with BBC News. She has been a witness to history in the UK and around the world, reporting live from Northern Ireland as the Good Friday Agreement was negotiated in 1998, from Donald Trump’s HQ on election night in 2016, and from the steps of the US Capitol on January 6th 2021 during riots.
Before leaving the BBC, Laura led her family on a historic trip to Grenada in February 2023, where the Trevelyans’ publicly apologised to the Grenadian people for the role of their ancestors in enslaving Africans on the island.
She also delivered the inaugural Sir Tom Hopkinson lecture in March 2024 where she called on the British government and its leading research institutions to make a financial commitment to preserve endangered archives in the Caribbean.
Cardiff University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Larner, said: “I am delighted that Laura has agreed to become our Chancellor.”
Laura is a highly respected international journalist and leading advocate for the Caribbean’s reparatory justice agenda. She is also no stranger to our University having honed her journalism skills with us and becoming an Honorary Fellow in 2022. I look forward to working with Laura and welcoming her back to Cardiff over the coming months.
Laura is the co-founder of Heirs of Slavery, a group of British people whose ancestors profited from the enslavement of Africans in the Caribbean.
Heirs of Slavery is encouraging other families with similar histories to acknowledge this fraught past, and calling on Britain’s government to engage in reparatory justice talks with Caribbean governments. She is participating in UNESCO’s first dialogue for reparatory justice. Laura is an Honorary Fellow at the University of the West Indies’ PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean advocacy.
She met her husband, James Goldston, whilst studying in Cardiff. James is the former president of ABC News and now President of Candle True Stories, a global documentary company.
Laura is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of the Gladstone Library in Wales. She’s the author of two books, A Very British Family; The Trevelyans and their World, and The Winchester; An American Dynasty.
