The Chancellor

Floella Benjamin OBE DL, Hon D.Litt (Exeter) is the University of Exeter’s Chancellor, the ceremonial head of the University.

Floella, 60, is a broadcaster, actress, writer, producer and an active worker for the welfare, care and education of children throughout the world. Although best known for her work as a children’s TV presenter on iconic programmes like ‘Playschool’ and ‘Play Away’, she began her career in the theatre, appearing in many hit West End shows and in television dramas including ‘Within These Walls’, ‘Bergerac’ and ‘Gentle Touch’ as well as British 1977 Cannes Film entry ‘Black Joy’ where she was critically acclaimed.

Today she runs a successful TV production company and continues to appear in feature films, television dramas and children’s programmes. She is also an active Vice-President of Barnardo’s. She led a twenty-year campaign to create the role of Minister for Children, which achieved its goal in 2003.

She was Chairman of the Women of the Year Lunch for five years and Chairman of BAFTA - Television, also a member of the OFCOM Content Board and a Millennium Commissioner. She is currently President of the Elizabeth‘R’ Commonwealth Broadcasting Fund, President of The Ramblers and a governor of Dulwich College and the National Film and Television School. In 2008 she was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London.

Her broadcasting work has been recognised with a Special Lifetime Achievement BAFTA and an OBE.

She has created the ‘Touching Success’ initiative which aims to mentor and help young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is an honorary graduate of the University of Exeter.

On her appointment in 2006, Floella said, “It’s a great honour to be appointed Chancellor of the University of Exeter. I have always tried throughout my career to make a difference to the lives of young people. That is my mission and passion, so the chance to become closely involved with a major university is a wonderful opportunity to continue that work.”

Floella Benjamin is only the fifth Chancellor to be appointed by the University of Exeter since it was created in 1955. She succeeded Lord Alexander of Weedon, a leading barrister.

Floella's Biography

One of six children, Floella was born in Trinidad. She came to England as a child in 1960, when her family settled in south London. She left school at 16 with the aim of becoming Britain’s first ever black woman bank manager. She took the first step by passing the Part One Banking Diploma but then changed direction and became an actress and children’s TV presenter.

Her entry into life in Britain as a black schoolgirl was a challenging experience, which she describes in her book ‘Coming to England’ and its award winning television drama adaptation.

“I was standing next to the wall when some boys came up and spat strange words at me, words that I had never heard before but from their faces I knew that they were not nice. They were words that told me that I was different from them and that they felt my kind shouldn’t be in their country. I looked at them, confused and baffled. What was ‘my kind’ and why shouldn’t I be in the country I was brought up to love? The land of hope and glory, mother of the free? I began to feel angry and violent …I didn’t let them make me cry though. That was the day I realised that in the eyes of some people in this world I was not a person but a colour.”

The book has been in print since 1995 and the educational edition is used extensively in schools. The production company Floella runs with her husband Keith Taylor was commissioned by the BBC to make a children's drama based on ‘Coming to England’. This won a Royal Television Society Award in 2004.

Floella has produced hundreds of programmes, mostly for the audience she loves best - children. They include ‘Playabout’, ‘Jamboree’ and her Channel 4 production ‘Hullaballoo’ which won a major award in the USA. When she is not producing TV programmes for children, she produces lifestyle and cookery programmes, including ‘Caribbean Kitchen’ and ‘Africa on a Plate’ and documentaries such as ‘Statues and Monuments’.

She appeared in the feature film ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ and in the television drama ‘Line of Beauty’ as Mrs Charles. She also plays regular character Professor Rivers in children’s drama ‘Sarah-Jane Adventures’. Her latest hit children’s shows are ‘Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies’ and on radio ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’ and ‘Floella’s Story Sack’.

She has written more than twenty children’s books as well as a definitive guide to Caribbean cookery. She has also recently created and launched a range of Caribbean ready meals.

Floella completed her 10th consecutive London Marathon in 2008 raising thousands over the years for Barnardo’s as well as the Sickle Cell Society.

She loves running, cooking, photography and singing with Ken Follett’s rock band. She is married and has two children, Aston, (an Exeter Alumnus) and Alvina.

Her latest books ‘My Two Grandads’ and the sequel to ‘Coming to England’ - ‘The Arms of Britannia’ will both be published in 2010.