Fellow

John Kingman has extensive experience at the intersection of finance, science and policy and has made a significant contribution to shaping UK science funding and research priorities. The son of a mathematician, he graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in modern history and then worked as a Financial Times columnist and at BP before forging a long Whitehall career. As second permanent secretary to HM Treasury he was responsible for the Treasury’s economics ministry functions and for policy relating to business, financial services and infrastructure. In this role, he was closely involved in the UK response to the financial crisis of 2007/8, handling the resolution of Northern Rock and leading negotiations with RBS, Lloyds and HBOS on their £37bn recapitalisation. He then became the first Chief Executive of UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI), a company with HM Treasury as its sole shareholder and operating at arm’s length from government to manage these investments. While at the Treasury, John was also responsible for five spending reviews which prioritised science, as well as overseeing a number of developments and improvements in R&D tax credits, led the 2004 10 year framework for science and innovation funding and commissioned Sir David Cooksey’s review of the funding of medical research. From 2010-2012 he was Global Co-Head of the Financial Institutions Group at Rothschild and in 2016 became the first Chair of UK Research & Innovation, a role he held until 2021, overseeing government science and innovation funding of c£8bn a year. Awarded a knighthood in 2016 for his public services, particularly to the economy, John is now Chair of Legal and General Group plc, the UK’s largest institutional investor and of Barclays Bank UK PLC, the ring-fenced retail bank of Barclays PLC, and a member of the Barclays main board. A World Fellow of Yale University, Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society since 2021, he is also a member of the government’s Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, an independent, non-statutory, expert committee responsible for advising government on development and delivery of the industrial strategy and monitoring progress on its objectives. Other roles include as a Trustee of the Royal Opera House, a member of the Development Board for the £37m renewal of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, one of London’s most famous churches, Deputy Chair of the National Gallery and Chair of their Finance and Audit Committees. His election as an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences recognises his commitment to influencing government and industry to support research and innovation with sustained investment. Of the award, he said “I am honoured and delighted to have been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. The UK has huge strengths in these fields and there are great opportunities to develop these further, something the Academy can play a critical role in fostering.”