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Sir Michael Charles Scholar,KCB (born 3 January 1942) is a British civil servant and former President ofSt John's College, Oxford.[1]
He was educated atSt Olave's Grammar School andSt John's College, Cambridge (BA Classics and Moral Sciences 1964,MA,PhD,Research Fellow, Honorary Fellow 1999) and held positions atHarvard University, theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and theUniversity of Leicester.[2]
He is the father of SirTom Scholar who was Permanent Secretary to the Treasury between 2016 and 2022.[3]
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He joinedHM Treasury in 1969 and was appointed Assistant Principal in 1970. He was Private Secretary to theChief Secretary to the Treasury 1974–76. From 1979 to 1981 he worked forBarclays Bank. He was then Private Secretary to thePrime Minister (1981–83), Under Secretary HM Treasury (1983–87), and Deputy Secretary (1987–93).[2]
He wasPermanent Secretary of theWelsh Office 1993–96 and of theDepartment of Trade and Industry 1996–2001.[2]
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He served as President of St John's College, Oxford from 1 August 2001 to 2012. He was also aPro-Vice-Chancellor, Chairman of theConference of Colleges, and Chairman of theOxford University Careers Service, and a member of the Audit Committee.[1]
He is also a non-executive Director of Legal and General Investment Management (Holdings).
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In 1996, he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of theUniversity of Wales, Aberystwyth and 14 July 2003 he became an Honorary Fellow ofCardiff University. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by theUniversity of Glamorgan in 1999.[2]
He was appointedCompanion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1991 and advanced toKCB in 1999.[2]
Scholar is a keen musician and received the Associateship Diploma of theRoyal College of Organists in 1965. He was Honorary Secretary of theRoyal Opera House from 1988–93.[2]
On 1 April 2008, Sir Michael became the 3 day-a-week non-executive chairman of the newUK Statistics Authority (UKSA), through which theNational Statistician is accountable to Parliament.[4] The board oversees theOffice for National Statistics, following the "independence" which it obtained from ministers in theStatistics and Registration Service Act 2007. It also has a duty to assess all UK government statistics from other departments.
FollowingGordon Brown's announcement of new constitutional arrangements for public appointments, Sir Michael became, on 18 July 2007, the first such nominee to appear for vetting before theHouse of Commons Treasury Committee and to have his nomination subject to confirmation by the House.[5] Sir Michael officially resigned from the post on 31 March 2012; he was succeeded bySir Andrew Dilnot, CBE.[6]
Scholar's eldest son, SirThomas Whinfield Scholar (GCB), is a civil servant who was appointed Chief of Staff at 10 Downing Street whenGordon Brown becameprime minister. He has since returned toHM Treasury as a managing director and is the government's representative on the board ofNorthern Rock following itsnationalization.
Two younger sons are Richard and John, the latter being a lecturer in English Literature at the University of Reading who also worked at the Treasury.[7]
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| Preceded by | President of St John's College, Oxford 2001-2012 | Succeeded by |