Richard Wilson, Lord Wilson of Dinton

Richard is a Life Fellow and our former Master 2002–2012. Although not an academic, he occasionally lectures across the University of Cambridge including the Judge Business School, the Economics Department and the Møller Institute.

Biography

He was born in Wales and took his degrees at Clare College (1961–1965).He was called to the Bar but, rather than practice, entered the Civil Service in the Board of Trade in 1966. He subsequently served in a number of departments including 12 years in the Department of Energy where his responsibilities included nuclear power policy, the privatisation of Britoil, and personnel and finance. He headed the Economic and Domestic Secretariat in the Cabinet Office from 1987–90, working directly to Mrs Thatcher on most domestic issues. After two years in the Treasury he was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Department of the Environment in 1992 and Permanent Under Secretary of the Home Office in 1994. He became Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service in January 1998.

On his retirement in 2002 he was elected Master of Emmanuel College and served from 2002–2012. In the private sector he was a non–executive director of BSkyB for 10 years and chairman of C Hoare & Co, the private bank, from 2006–2016. He has had various charitable interests. He currently attends the House of Lords as a cross bencher. He is married to Caro and they have two children and two grandchildren.