Chief Executive Office, Zoological Society of London

Policy Leaders Fellow Alumnus, Centre for Science and Policy

Matthew is currently CEO of the Zoological Society of London, a conservation charity which runs London and Whipsnade Zoos, a global network of conservation projects, and the scientific Institute of Zoology.

Matthew has had a varied career. As CEO of NHSX Matthew led the digital transformation of health and care. His team helped the NHS through the pandemic by developing the NHS Datastore, allowing the crisis to be managed using real-time data, and built the award-winning NHS Covid Pass.

He was previously the Government’s first Director General for Digital and Media at DCMS, the Government’s cyber security director, and Britain’s Ambassador to Israel, where he built an ambitious programme of scientific collaboration on regenerative medicine.

As well as Israel he has had postings in Tehran, Islamabad, Washington and Manila; he has taught in Zimbabwe; done ecological research in Tanzania; and has published research on the feeding preferences of termites.

Matthew is a Visiting Professor at Leeds University, has an Honorary Doctorate from Ben Gurion University, a CMG for services to the scientific and tech partnership between Britain and Israel, and an MBE for services to child protection in the Philippines.