Meet the judges for 2009
Jacob Weisberg
Jacob Weisberg (Chair) is chairman and editor-in-chief of the Slate Group, a unit of the Washington Post Company devoted to developing Web-based publications. Weisberg joined Slate shortly after its founding in 1996 as chief political correspondent. Before joining Slate, Weisberg wrote about politics for magazines including the New Republic, Newsweek, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair and the New York Times Magazine. Jacob is the author of several books, including The Bush Tragedy, which was a New York Times bestseller in 2008, and the Bushisms series. With former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, he co-wrote In an Uncertain World, which was published in 2003. His first book, In Defense of Government, was published in 1996.
Dr Mark Lythgoe
Dr Mark Lythgoe is Director of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging at University College London, where he develops novel imaging techniques for investigating brain and cardiac function. He is also Director of the Cheltenham Science Festival, one of the world’s largest science festivals. In the last 15 years Mark has combined science and art to engage with the public, explore new boundaries and increase interaction between these fields. He has produced many sci/art projects and collaborated with a wide variety of artist to create works from sculpture to film. Mark has presented several documentary programmes for television and radio including Channel 4 and BBC Radio 4. Mark sits on the Board of directors and trustees for Arts Catalyst, which aims to involve artists, scientists and the wider public in a discourse about science in society. Mark has also been on several judging panels such as the Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year and the Aventis Prize for Science Books.
Tim Marlow
Tim Marlow is a writer, broadcaster, art historian and Director of Exhibitions at White Cube in London. In 1993 he founded Tate: The Art Magazine. From 1991 to 1998 he presented Radio 4's arts programme Kaleidoscope, for which he won a Sony Award, and for the last five years has been a regular presenter on the BBC World Service. Tim is the author of various books including monographs of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin and the Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele as well as a survey of great artists published by Faber. He has presented over 100 arts documentaries on British Television for FIVE, Sky Arts and the BBC. He has written extensively on art and culture in the British press including the Times, Guardian, Independent on Sunday and Arena, Art Monthly and Blueprint. He is visiting lecturer at Winchester School of Art and an examiner on the Sculpture MA and former Creative Director of Sculpture at Goodwood and is a board member of the ICA.
Munira Mirza
Munira Mirza is director of arts, culture and the creative industries for the Mayor of London. Munira writes and broadcasts about race, culture and identity, including appearances on BBC 2's Newsnight, BBC Radio 4's Today Programme and in theGuardian and Daily Mail. In 2005 she presented the BBC Radio 4 series, The Business of Race. She is co-author of The Policy Exchange report Living Apart Together: British Muslims and the Paradox of Multiculturalism and has edited a collection of essays for Policy Exchange entitled Culture Vultures: Is UK arts policy damaging the arts? She has been a Council Member on the UK Committee of the European Cultural Foundation and is a founding member of the Manifesto Club.
Sarah Sands
Sarah Sands is editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest magazine. Before joining RD in May 2008, Sarah worked at the Evening Standard initially as editor of the Londoner's Diary, before taking further posts as features editor and associate editor. She joined The Daily Telegraph in 1996 as deputy editor, later assuming responsibility for the Saturday edition. She was appointed as the first female editor of The Sunday Telegraph in June 2005. In April 2006 she was appointed consultant editor on the Daily Mail. In February 2009 it was announced that she would be taking up the role of deputy editor on The Evening Standard. Sarah has written two novels, her first was Playing the Game and her second, Hothouse, was published during the summer of 2005.