Seona Reid was appointed Director to The Glasgow School of Art in September 1999, Previously she served as Director of the Scottish Arts Council for 9 years, and before that Assistant Director (Strategy and Regional Development) of Greater London Arts; Director of Shape; Head of Public Relations Ballet Rambert; Press and Publicity Officer at Northern Dance Theatre; Business Manager, Lincoln Theatre Royal and a freelance arts consultant working with the Arts Council of Great Britain and the London Contemporary Dance Trust.

She is Trustee and Scottish Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, a member of the Universities UK Creative Industries Project Steering Group, a member of the Universities Scotland Executive Committee and a Board member of Cove Park, an artist residency centre in Scotland. Until recently she was a member of the Knowledge and Evaluation Committee of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, a Commissioner on the Scottish Broadcasting Commission; Vice Chair of the Lighthouse Centre for Architecture, Design and the City and on the Boards of the Arches and Suspect Culture Theatre.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; has four honorary degrees from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen (1995), from the University of Glasgow (1999), from Glasgow Caledonian University (2001) and from Strathclyde University (2009), all for services to the arts in Scotland. She became an honorary professor of the University of Glasgow in 1995 and was awarded a CBE in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to the Creative Industries.