Nancy Balfour

Nancy Balfour (17 May 1911 – 29 August 1997) was an American-born English arts administrator for the Contemporary Art Society (CAS) and journalist for The Economist. She worked for The Economist from 1948 to 1972 as editor of its American Survey and attempted to make the piece interesting to both American and British readers and broaden American affairs and opinion.

Balfour served as chairman and later president of the CAS in the 1970s, helping to stabilise the organisation's finances, began a programme to advice corporations on producing contemporary and modern collections and pioneered cultural travel for its members. She also served as vice-chair of the Crafts Council and was a founder of the British-American Arts Association. Following her death, a loan for students at the Slade School of Fine Art was set up in her name.

Early life Balfour was born close to San Francisco, California, on 17 May 1911, to Alexander Balfour and his wife, Ruth Macfarland. She was half-American, and read economics, politics and philosophy as an undergraduate student at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in the 1930s. She began to display a fascination of art while at university and collected small works by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. Their goal was to convert American Survey into a section of interest to both American and British readers. which eventually helped to prepare for the raising of the magazine's circulation in the United States between the 1970s and the 1980s.

In contrast to fellow members of staff, Balfour keenly supported the decision to construct the current Modernist Economist building in St James's Street, and was instrumental in obtaining the works to decorate the building. She helped to begin the custom of staging art exhibitions in the foyer and encouraged sculpture students from the Royal Academy Schools to work in its courtyard midway through each year. to provide support to working artists. The Nancy Balfour Trust Scholarship loan was set up in her name to be available for an undergraduate or postgraduate student at the Slade School of Fine Art for the duration of their course which they were required to pay at the beginning of each year. Three years after her death, The Nancy Balfour Charitable Trust was closed.