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Tim Lankester has been President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford since 2001. From 2003 to 2006, he was chairman of the Oxford University undergraduates admissions system, and in that role carried out a major review of admissions policy and procedures.
From 1996 to 2000, he was Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. During his directorship SOAS continued to grow in size and he helped to take forward many new initiatives. His encouragement and support enabled SOAS to improve its performance on the research side, and to maintain its place among the UK's leading academic institutions. He was particularly active in giving SOAS a high international profile and played a major role in attracting external funding for academic positions and student scholarships.
Born in 1942, Sir Tim received his secondary education at Monkton Combe School, Bath. He then became one of the very first VSO volunteers, working as a teacher in Belize in 1960-61. He studied economics at St John's College, Cambridge (where he is now an Honorary Fellow) and then at Yale University.
The initial stages of his career were spent with the World Bank, where he worked as an economist, first in Washington and then from 1970 to 1973 in New Delhi.
From 1973 to 1995, he was in the civil service. He served initially at the Treasury, and then at 10 Downing Street as Private Secretary to Prime Ministers Callaghan and Thatcher.
He returned to the Treasury after a secondment to the investment bank, S.G.Warburg,. Then in 1985, he was posted as Economic Minister at the British Embassy in Washington and as Britain's representative on the boards of the IMF and the World Bank. Later he was the UK director on the board of the European Investment Bank.
In 1989 he became Permanent Secretary at the Overseas Development Administration (in 1997 renamed the Department for International Development), where he remained until 1994. During his term of office at ODA he took a strong stand on what became known as the Pergau Dam controversy, arguing that British aid money should only be used for sound development projects. He then moved to the Department for Education (as Permanent Secretary) before retiring from the Civil Service in 1996. He was awarded the KCB in 1994.
Sir Tim was Deputy Chairman of the British Council from 1999. to 2004. He is currently Governor (for the UK) of the Asia-Europe Foundation, a member of the UK National Committee of the Aga Khan Foundation, a Council member of VSO, a member of the UK-India Roundtable, and Chairman of the board of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is on the advisory board of Actis Capital and a non-executive director of Mitchells and Butlers plc.
He writes and lectures on international aid, economic development and governance, with particular reference to Africa and Asia. He has been a consultant to UNDP, the World Bank, and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Most recently he has undertaken an evaluation of the UNDP's work in Indonesia supporting governance reform. | 
