The Madras College Archive

     


Former Pupil Biographies

Leonie Bell ( - current)

Leonie Bell was born in Dundee and grew up in Fife, attending Madras College.

Her career began at 'Glasgow 1999:UK City of Architecture & Design'. She then became Programme Director at The Lighthouse  which was opened as part of  Glasgow's status as 'UK City of Architecture and Design' in 1999.

She led on Scotland’s national cultural programmes for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

This was followed by an appointment as Director of Arts & Engagement at Creative Scotland. Then she became the Scottish Government's Head of Culture Strategy and Cultural Engagement. In 2018 she joined Renfrewshire Council in the newly-created post of Paisley Partnership, Strategic Lead for Cultural Regeneration. In this role Leonie led on 'Future Paisley', a far-reaching and ground-breaking approach to cultural regeneration that builds from Paisley’s UK City of Culture bid and aims to establish Paisley as a centre of excellence for cultural regeneration.

She chairs the advisory board of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and is a trustee of the Edinburgh International Festival.

In 2020 it was announced that she had been appointed the new Director of the V&A Dundee. They describe her as "one of Scotland's most experienced cultural leaders".