Timothy David Gardam (born 14 January 1956) is a British journalist, media executive and educator. He was Director of Television at

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

until 2003, after which he was Principal of St Anne's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

until 2016. He was Chief Executive of the

Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...

between September 2016 and March 2024.

Early life

Gardam was born on 14 January 1956 to the novelist

Jane Gardam Jane Mary Gardam (born Jean Mary Pearson; 11 July 1928 – 28 April 2025) was an English writer of children's and adult fiction and literary critic. She also penned reviews for ''The Spectator'' and ''The Telegraph'', and wrote for BBC Radio. ...

. He studied at

Rokeby Preparatory School Rokeby School is an independent all-boys preparatory day school in Kingston upon Thames, London. Its headmaster is Jason Peck. The school offers an education from 4 to 13 years through the integration of a pre-Preparatory school (United Kingdom ...

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, where he obtained a

double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a Grading in education, grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and Master's degree#Integrated Masters Degree, integrated master's degrees in the United Kingd ...

in English.

Career

He worked at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

(where he created ''

Timewatch ''Timewatch'' is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC. The ''Timewatch'' brandname is used as a ...

'' and edited ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

''), and as director of programmes at

, commissioning the first series of Big Brother. He was then appointed by the

Department of Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. I ...

to lead a review of

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. This should not be confused with In ...

in Britain. In January 2008, he began a three-year term on the board of

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

, the independent regulatory authority for the UK communications industries. He was subsequently reappointed for a second three-year term. In 2004, he was elected

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...

, succeeding Ruth Deech. His achievements included the construction of a new library and the St Anne's Coffee Shop (STACS), and the strengthening of college finances, academic performance, and outreach efforts. In early 2016, Gardam announced that he would be stepping down as principal at the end of the academic year, in order to become chief executive of the

. He was Chairman of the Consumers' Association Council from 2015 to 2019. Gardam was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2024 New Year Honours The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for services to journalism and education.

References

External Links

* Living people Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge BBC people Heads of colleges in the United Kingdom British male journalists Channel 4 people People educated at Westminster School, London Principals of St Anne's College, Oxford English television editors 1956 births Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-journalist-stub