Dame Jenni Murray
Patron of Humanists UK (1950–2026)
Broadcaster and writer
Dame Jenni Murray was a patron of Humanists UK for her journalism on issues of concern to humanists.
Jenni Murray had one of the best loved voices on BBC radio, where she was the regular presenter of Woman's Hour from 1987. In 1998 she was nominated Radio Broadcaster of the Year, and in 2007 she became a member of the Radio Academy Hall of Fame and she was later given a lifetime achievement award by the Media Society.
Jenni Murray was awarded an OBE in 1999 for services to broadcasting, and made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2011.
Jenni Murray was born and educated in Barnsley, and had a degree in French and Drama from Hull University. She joined BBC Radio Bristol in 1973 and went on to report and present for BBC TV's South Today. In 1983 she joined Newsnight, and then two years later moved to Radio 4 as a presenter for the Today programme.
She also wrote regularly for various newspapers and magazines, and was the author of several books including: The Woman's Hour: A History of Women Since World War II; Is It Me or Is It Hot In Here: A Modern Woman's Guide to the Menopause; That's My Boy; and Memoirs of a Not So Dutiful Daughter. If you buy her books at Amazon through this link a small commission will go to Humanists UK.
She was a feminist and critic of the institution of marriage, a supporter of the right to die when one chooses (and the right not to think positively about cancer), patron of several charities including the Family Planning Association and the Breast Cancer Campaign, and vice-president of Parkinson's UK.