Michael Scholar
Sir Michael Charles Scholar, KCB (born 3 January 1942) is a British civil servant and former President of St John's College, Oxford.[1]
Education[edit]
He was educated at St Olave's Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge (BA Classics and Moral Sciences 1964, MA, PhD, Research Fellow, Honorary Fellow 1999) and held positions at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Leicester.[2]
He is the father of Sir Tom Scholar who was Permanent Secretary to the Treasury between 2016 and 2022.[3]
UK Statistics Authority[edit]
On 1 April 2008, Sir Michael became the 3 day-a-week non-executive chairman of the new UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), through which the National Statistician is accountable to Parliament.[4] The board oversees the Office for National Statistics, following the "independence" which it obtained from ministers in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. It also has a duty to assess all UK government statistics from other departments.
Following Gordon 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 the House 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 by Sir Andrew Dilnot, CBE.[6]
Family[edit]
Scholar's eldest son, Sir Thomas Whinfield Scholar (GCB), is a civil servant who was appointed Chief of Staff at 10 Downing Street when Gordon Brown became prime minister. He has since returned to HM Treasury as a managing director and is the government's representative on the board of Northern Rock following its nationalization.
Two younger sons are Richard and John, the latter being a lecturer in English Literature at the University of Reading and worked at the Treasury.
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