Ken MacQuarrie is the Director ofBBC Nations and Regions and a member of theBBC Board, the executive board that governs the BBC.

Born on theIsle of Mull in theInner Hebrides inScotland, he attended school inOban, followed by theUniversity of Edinburgh andMoray House School of Education.^[1] He joinedBBC Scotland as a researcher in 1975.^[2]

He became a radio producer for BBC Highland then transferred as a producer in Television in 1979. He was instrumental in introducing dailyGaelic children's programmes onBBC Scotland and developed the investigative current affairs programmesProsbaig,Eòrpa and the children's programmeDè a-nis?.^[1]

In 1992 he became Head of Gaelic and Features and of Children's. By 2000 he had become Head of Programmes which gave him responsibility for production and commissioning of all BBC Scotland output.^[1][2] He was appointed Controller of BBC Scotland in April 2004.^[2]

As a senior member of the BBC Editorial Standards Committee, MacQuarrie has twice been asked to investigate high-profile incidents in the BBC.^[3] His 2012 report intoNewsnight (following the programmewrongly accusing Lord McAlpine of abusing care-home boys) led to widespread changes in editorial policy.^[4] MacQuarrie was later commissioned by Director GeneralTony Hall to investigateJeremy Clarkson's assault on hisTop Gear producer.^[5]

He was appointed to run BBC Nations and Regions in September 2016, and sits on the two executive boards of the BBC; theBBC Board and the Executive Committee.^[6]

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