John Beddington
Encyclopedia
Sir John Rex Beddington, CMG, FRS (born 13 October 1945) is the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government
Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government
The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and head of the Government Office for Science....

  and Professor of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

.

Early life

Beddington went to school at the independent Monmouth School
Monmouth School
Monmouth School is an HMC boys' boarding and day school in Monmouth, Monmouthshire in south east Wales. It was founded in 1614 by William Jones. It is run as a trust, the William Jones's Schools Foundation, by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Livery Companies...

 in south-east Wales, close to the English border. He then attended the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

, gaining a BSc
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in Economics, and later an MSc. In 1973 he was awarded a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 degree from the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

.

Career

From 1968 to 1971 he was a research assistant at the University of Edinburgh. From 1971 to 1984 he was a lecturer in Population Biology at the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...

.

Imperial College London

He joined Imperial in 1984, was promoted to Reader in Applied Population Biology
Population biology
Population biology is a study of populations of organisms, especially the regulation of population size, life history traits such as clutch size, and extinction...

 in 1987 and was appointed Professor of Applied Population Biology there in 1991.

Beddington has been a specialist in the economics and biology of sustainable management of renewable resources, and has previously advised UK ministers on scientific and environmental issues. He has chaired the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...

’ science advisory panel and the Defence Scientific Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Natural Environmental Research Council. He has also advised the European Commission and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Professor Beddington was awarded the Heidelberg Award for Environmental Excellence in June 1997, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001 and was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004, in recognition of his services to fisheries science and management.

Chief Scientific Officer

On 1 October 2007, it was announced by the Prime Minister that Beddington would succeed Professor Sir David King
David King (scientist)
Sir David Anthony King FRS is the Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Director of Research in Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Collegio Carlo Alberto, Chancellor of the University of Liverpool and a senior...

 as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government
Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government
The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and head of the Government Office for Science....

 with effect from 1 January 2008. His annual remuneration for this role is £165,000.

Fukushima nuclear incident advice

Science advice frequently seems to attract controversy, as in the case of climate change, genetically-modified food or homeopathy - all areas where science advisers have become caught up in a wider public debate. The nuclear accident at Fukushima is no exception and Beddington was closely involved in helping the British government formulate its response and advice to British citizens in Japan. The full record of transcripts of telephone conferences held by Beddington and the British Embassy in Tokyo are available on the Embassy website www.ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk. Calls were held on 15 March , 18 March , 25 March and 7 April . It should also be noted that the travel advice issued by the Foreign and Commonweath Office also took account of other factors, including the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in NE Japan on 11 March and the resultant power shortages, transport and supply disruptions.

Press reporting of the Fukushima crisis was extensive and sometimes based on scant factual information. The critical moment came around 16–17 March when it became apparent that the situation at Fukushima was more serious than previously anticipated. Beddington was accused of "misinforming" the British Government over the Fukushima I nuclear accidents. The Whitehall Correspondent of the Independent reported that he initially underestimated the seriousness of the incident by "unequivocally" saying there was no danger from radiation, but 24 hours later said he was "extremely worried". This resulted in "significant delay" in evacuating British citizens from Japan, according to a British minister.. Other commentators also reported on the position taken by Beddington and the change in the science advice that took place around 16–17 March, commenting that although the situation was "definitely more serious" the "Japanese are doing the right things". .

Personal life

Beddington was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

He married Sarah West in 1968. They divorced in 1972 and have one son. In 1973 he married Prof Sally Baldwin
Sally Baldwin
Sally Baldwin was a former University of York social sciences professor, who was killed by an automatic escalator....

. They divorced in 1979 and have one daughter. In 1990 he married Caroline Hiller.

External links

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