Myles Wickstead CBE is Visiting Professor (International Relations) at the Department of International Development. This follows a career in development and diplomacy, during which time he Head of the British Development Division in Eastern Africa (1993-97), responsible for British Government development programmes in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. 

In 1997, he coordinated the British Government White Paper, ‘Eliminating World Poverty: A Challenge for the 21st Century’. From 1997-2000, he served on the Board of the World Bank (and as Development Counsellor at the British Embassy) in Washington DC; and from 2000-2004, as British Ambassador to Ethiopia, Djibouti and the African Union. 

He was Head of the Secretariat to the Commission for Africa from 2004-2005, and the Commission’s Report, ‘Our Common Interest’ formed the basis of the 2005 G8 Communique on Africa.

Having left government service in late 2005, Myles was a Special Advisor to the Parliamentary International Development Select Committee and is currently an Advisor to ‘Hand in Hand International’ and ‘Development Initiatives’. He was on the boards of a number of NGOs, Trusts and Foundations, and is currently on the Boards of the Baring Foundation; the Joffe Charitable Trust; International Inspiration; Enterprise for Development; and the Advisory Council of Wilton Park. 

Myles has degrees from the University of St Andrews (MA First Class Honours) and Oxford (MLitt). He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by Leeds Met University, the University of Ulster and the Open University (where he is also a Visiting Professor) in recognition of his work on Africa and development. 

In the New Year’s Honours 2006, he was appointed CBE. His book: ’Aid and Development: A Brief Introduction’ was published by OUP in mid-2015.