Since 2016, Sir John Kingman has been the first Chair of UK Research and Innovation, which oversees Government science and innovation funding of c£8bn a year.   He is also Group Chairman of Legal and General plc, the UK’s largest institutional investor.

John was previously Second Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury, where he was for many years closely involved in policy on R&D and science funding, working on five spending reviews which prioritised science and in 2004 personally leading the then Government's 10 year framework for science and innovation funding.

John is Deputy Chair of the National Gallery, a Trustee of the Royal Opera House and a World Fellow of Yale University. He has also been a member of the Prime Minister's Council for Science & Technology.