Right Honorable Lord Patten of Barnes, C.H., P.C.; chancellor of the University of Oxford and chairman of the BBC Trust
The goal of the Nanovic Forum is to bring distinguished European leaders in a variety of fields—including the academy, the arts, politics, and business—to Notre Dame to stimulate student and faculty interest in contemporary Europe.
Patten was born in 1944 and educated at St. Benedict’s School, Ealing, and Balliol College Oxford. He was director of the Conservative Research Department (1974–79), member of Parliament for Bath (1979–92), a government minister (1983–92), and chairman of the Conservative Party (1990–92).
From 1992 to 1997, he was governor of Hong Kong, and from 1998 to 1999, chairman of the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland. He was also European Commissioner for External Affairs (1999–2004).
Patten was made a Companion of Honour in 1998 and a Life Peer in 2005. He has written The Tory Case, East and West, Not Quite The Diplomat and What Next?—Surviving the 21st Century. He is chairman of the BBC Trust, chancellor of the University of Oxford, co-chair of the UK-India Round Table, and a board member of the companies Bridgepoint, Russell Reynolds, and EDF.
Sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies