19 July 2013 13:46

A Lancaster graduate who produced the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies has been given an Alumni Award.

Clare Amsel is a senior manager with over 25 years’ experience in the conference and events management industry. Graduating from Lancaster in 1979 with a degree in Religious Studies, she pursued a career in marketing, and went on to manage companies in the UK, Belgium and Greece. 

Of her time at Lancaster, she said: “I had a number of professors and lecturers who were unusually charismatic and I learnt the value of being an engaging communicator. Certainly the degree kindled a growing interest in other cultures and this has remained with me to this day. I've been lucky enough to have travelled, lived and worked across the globe and I hope that there's more of that to come.”

In 2004 Clare was appointed Senior Co-ordinating Producer for the Athens Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies. In 2012 she was a leading member of the team which produced the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies, events enjoyed by a live audience of 80,000 and reaching a worldwide TV audience of 4 billion.

She said: “The responsibility of the Producer is to lead the production team in delivering the artistic vision. The experience is tremendously challenging but literally, thrilling.”

Clare has recently been appointed as the Senior Producer of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.