Dr Bridget McConnell

Dr Bridget McConnell, CBE – Trustee since May 2020

Bridget McConnell was Chief Executive of Glasgow Life, the largest culture, sport, learning and tourism charity in the country since 1998 until April 2022. 

Bridget was instrumental in bringing the 2014 Commonwealth Games to Glasgow as well as overseeing the delivery of the 2018 European Championships. She also oversaw the £30m refurbishment of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum; the opening of the £68m Riverside Museum and the £113m Emirates Arena; the £35m refurbishment of the Kelvin Hall as a world-class centre for heritage, learning, culture and sport; and the c£70m project to refurbish and redisplay The Burrell Collection which opened in March 2022.

A graduate of the University of St Andrews, she then gained her Masters and Doctorate of Education at Stirling University, Bridget is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She has recently been appointed a non executive director of Scottish Power Renewables Ltd., a council member of UKRI’s Arts & Humanities Council and Honorary Vice President of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  Bridget is also on the boards of Arts and Business Scotland, The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland and is the Scotland board member for Unboxed: FestivalUK 2022. Bridget holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of St Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.