Anthony Seldon
{{short description|British educator and historian (born 1953)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sir Anthony Seldon
| image = Anthony Seldon.jpg
| alt =
| birth_name = Anthony Francis Seldon
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1953|08|02}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U34327 |title='SELDON, Anthony Francis', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press |access-date=14 December 2011 |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615051738/https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-34327 |url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}
| birth_place = Stepney, London, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| occupation = {{flatlist |
- Headmaster
- contemporary historian
- commentator
- political author
}}
| alma_mater = Worcester College, Oxford (BA)
London School of Economics (PhD)
Polytechnic of Central London (MBA)
King's College London (PGCE)
| known_for = Master of Epsom College
Former master of Wellington College
Former vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Joanna Pappworth|1982|2016|reason=died}}
- {{marriage|Sarah Sayer|2022}}
}}
| children = 3
| father = Arthur Seldon
| website = {{URL |anthonyseldon.co.uk}}
}}
Sir Anthony Francis Seldon {{post-nominals |country=GBR |size=100% |FRSA |FRHistS |FKC}} (born 2 August 1953) is a British contemporary historian and educator. As an author, he is known for his political biographies of consecutive British Prime Ministers, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, and as an educator, the Master of Wellington College, in Berkshire. Seldon is the author or editor of more than 50 books on contemporary history, politics and education.
He has been headmaster of independent schools Wellington College, Epsom College and Brighton College.{{cite web |title=School Results |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education/schoolresults/ |work=The Times |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615051737/https://cdn.privacy-mgmt.com/wrapper/v2/messages?hasCsp=true&env=prod&body=%7B%22accountId%22%3A259%2C%22campaignEnv%22%3A%22prod%22%2C%22campaigns%22%3A%7B%22ccpa%22%3A%7B%22alwaysDisplayDNS%22%3Afalse%2C%22hasLocalData%22%3Afalse%2C%22targetingParams%22%3A%7B%7D%7D%2C%22gdpr%22%3A%7B%22consentStatus%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22targetingParams%22%3A%7B%7D%7D%7D%2C%22clientMMSOrigin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.privacy-mgmt.com%22%2C%22hasCSP%22%3Atrue%2C%22includeData%22%3A%7B%22localState%22%3A%7B%22type%22%3A%22string%22%7D%2C%22actions%22%3A%7B%22type%22%3A%22RecordString%22%7D%2C%22cookies%22%3A%7B%22type%22%3A%22RecordString%22%7D%7D%2C%22propertyHref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thetimes.co.uk%22%2C%22propertyId%22%3A5049%7D&localState=null&metadata=%7B%22ccpa%22%3A%7B%22applies%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22gdpr%22%3A%7B%22applies%22%3Afalse%7D%7D&nonKeyedLocalState=null&ch=446710079449740212bce6&scriptVersion=4.24.0&scriptType=unified |url-status=dead}} In 2009, he set up The Wellington Academy, the first state school to carry the name of its founding independent school.{{cite news |title=Wellington College to run Academy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7373435.stm |work=BBC website |access-date=5 September 2013 |date=29 April 2008 |archive-date=3 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503023334/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7373435.stm |url-status=live}} He was vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham from 2015 to 2020,{{cite news |date=1 May 2020 |title=Sir Anthony Seldon to leave the University of Buckingham |url=https://www.bucksherald.co.uk/education/sir-anthony-seldon-leave-university-buckingham-2662479 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111141954/https://www.bucksherald.co.uk/education/sir-anthony-seldon-leave-university-buckingham-2662479 |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=9 January 2021 |work=The Bucks Herald}} when he was succeeded by James Tooley.[https://www.buckinghamtoday.co.uk/education/university-buckingham-honours-its-offers-students-regardless-level-grades-2945935 University of Buckingham honours its offers to students regardless of A-level grades], Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser, 19 August 2020 In 2024, he returned to Wellington College as the Founding Director of Wellington College Education, and is the devisor of AI in Education, the Museum of the Prime Minister and the Western Front Way.
He was the co-founder and first director of the Institute for Contemporary British History, is the co-founder of Action for Happiness,{{cite news |title=Dr Anthony Seldon: Truly happy people are made, not born |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/dr-anthony-seldon-truly-happy-people-are-made-not-born-2266941.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/dr-anthony-seldon-truly-happy-people-are-made-not-born-2266941.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |access-date=5 September 2013 |location=London |date=13 April 2011}}{{cbignore}} is a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company,{{cite web |title=RSC Annual Report 2011-12 |url=http://www.rsc.org.uk/downloads/120910_rsc_annual_report_2011-12_final.pdf |publisher=Royal Shakespeare Company |access-date=5 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612013324/http://www.rsc.org.uk/downloads/120910_rsc_annual_report_2011-12_final.pdf |archive-date=12 June 2013}} was the Founding Chair of the National Archives Trust and is on the boards of a number of charities and educational bodies.
He is honorary historical adviser to 10 Downing Street and was a member of the First World War Centenary Culture Committee. Seldon was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to education and modern political history.{{London Gazette |issue=60895 |date=14 June 2014 |page=b2 |supp=y}}{{cite news |title=John Dunford and Anthony Seldon among educationalists recognised in honours list |url=http://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/06/13/john-dunford-and-anthony-seldon-among-educationalists-recognised-in-honours-list.aspx |location=London |date=13 June 2014 |access-date=13 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714190045/http://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/06/13/john-dunford-and-anthony-seldon-among-educationalists-recognised-in-honours-list.aspx |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}
Early life and education
Seldon was born in Stepney,England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007 the youngest son of economist Arthur Seldon (born Abraham Margolis), who co-founded the Institute of Economic Affairs and directed academic affairs at the think tank for 30 years. His father was the child of Jewish immigrants who fled antisemitic pogroms in Russia.{{cite web |title=How to go beyond happiness |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/11486396/How-to-go-beyond-happiness.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |year=2015 |access-date=9 October 2019 |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615052230/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/11486396/How-to-go-beyond-happiness.html |url-status=live}}
Seldon was educated first at Dulwich College Preparatory School, and Bickley Park School,{{cite news |title=Former pupils invited to help school celebrate centenary |url=http://www.edenbridge-chronicle.co.uk/article.cfm?id=113799&headline=Former%20pupils%20invited%20to%20help%20school%20celebrate%20centenary§ionIs=news&searchyear=2017 |access-date=2020-07-05 |website=Edenbridge Chronicle |archive-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705210528/http://www.edenbridge-chronicle.co.uk/article.cfm?id=113799&headline=Former%20pupils%20invited%20to%20help%20school%20celebrate%20centenary§ionIs=news&searchyear=2017 |url-status=live}} and then Tonbridge School, followed by Worcester College, Oxford, where he took a BA in PPE. In 1981, he gained a PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics.{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Anthony |last=Seldon |title=The Churchill Government of 1951–55: a study of personalities and policy making |publisher=London School of Economics |date=1981 |url=https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/298902 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419082357/https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/298902 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-04-19 |author-link=Anthony Seldon}} He has an MBA from the Polytechnic of Central London. He obtained a PGCE from King's College London.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
Career
Seldon's first teaching appointment was at Whitgift School in Croydon in 1983. He became head of Politics. In 1989 he returned to his old school, Tonbridge, and became head of History and General Studies. In 1993 he was appointed deputy headmaster and, ultimately, acting headmaster of St. Dunstan's College in London. He then became headmaster of Brighton College from September 1997 until he joined Wellington College in January 2006 as its 13th Master. He became executive principal at The Wellington Academy (a separate school) in 2013.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}
He took a three-month sabbatical from January to March 2014 (leaving Wellington to be run in the interim by his second master, Robin Dyer, who as acting master, stated it would be "business as usual").{{cite news |last=Hurst |first=Greg |title=Gove's reform champion to take sabbatical |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/goves-reform-champion-to-take-sabbatical-56mkcz6n52f |access-date=15 March 2014 |newspaper=The Times |date=13 December 2013 |archive-date=16 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316043822/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education/article3947671.ece |url-status=live}} Seldon announced on 23 April 2014 that he would be leaving Wellington College in the summer of 2015, after nearly ten years as the 13th master.{{cite web |title=Anthony Seldon to retire |url=https://www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/news-events/anthony-seldon-to-retire-as-master-of-wellington-college/ |website=Wellington College |date=22 April 2014 |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319213947/https://www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/news-events/anthony-seldon-to-retire-as-master-of-wellington-college/ |url-status=live}}
In September 2015, he replaced Terence Kealey as vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, the first private university in Britain.[http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/latest-news/appointment-of-sir-anthony-seldon-as-vice-chancellor/ Appointment of Sir Anthony Seldon as Vice-Chancellor], University of Buckingham, 16 April 2015
In March 2023, he replaced Emma Pattison as head master of Epsom College, following her murder.{{cite news |title=Epsom College: New head appointed after school gun deaths |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-64677739 |publisher=BBC News |date=17 February 2023 |access-date=17 February 2023 |archive-date=17 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217142649/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-64677739 |url-status=live}} In September 2024 he returned to Wellington College as the Founding Director of Wellington College Education to lead its development and evolution of global education, and to "shape and refine what education should mean in the mid-21st century."{{cite web |url=https://bookshop.canterbury.ac.uk/public-lecture-sir-anthony-seldon |title=CCCU. Public Lecture: Sir Anthony Seldon}}
History, politics and other writing
Seldon's books include:
- Churchill's Indian Summer (1981),{{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Churchill's Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951–1955 |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2010 |page=694 |isbn=978-0571272693}} which won a Best First Work Prize
- Major, A Political Life (1997){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Major: A Political Life |publisher=W&N |year=1997 |page=856 |isbn=0297816071}}
- The Powers Behind the Prime Minister (1999) with Professor Dennis Kavanagh{{cite book |last1=Kavanagh |first1=Dennis |author1-link=Dennis Kavanagh |last2=Seldon |first2=Anthony |title=The Powers Behind the Prime Minister: The Hidden Influence of Number Ten |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1999 |page=352 |isbn=0002570866}}
- 10 Downing Street: The Illustrated History (2000){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=10 Downing Street: The Illustrated History |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1999 |page=232 |isbn=0004140737}}
- The Foreign Office: The Illustrated History Of The Place And Its People (2001){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=The Foreign Office: The Illustrated History Of The Place And Its People |year=2000 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=000710118X |page=240}}
- Blair (2004){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Blair |year=2005 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=0743232127 |page=768}}
- Blair Unbound (2007){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Blair Unbound |year=2008 |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-1847390905 |page=608}}
- Trust (2009){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Trust: How We Lost it and How to Get it Back |year=2010 |publisher=Biteback |isbn=978-1849540018 |page=256}}
- Brown at 10 (2010) with Guy Lodge{{cite book |last=Anthony Seldon |first=Guy Lodge |title=Brown at 10 |year=2011 |publisher=Biteback Publishing |isbn=978-1849541220 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/brownat100000seld/page/560 560] |url=https://archive.org/details/brownat100000seld/page/560}}
- Public Schools and The Great War (2013) with David Walsh{{cite book |last1=Seldon |first1=Anthony |last2=Walsh |first2=David |author2-link=David Walsh (cricketer) |title=Public Schools and the Great War |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |year=2013 |page=320 |isbn=978-1781593080}}
- The Architecture of Diplomacy: The British Ambassador's Residence in Washington (2014) with Daniel Collings{{cite book |isbn=978-2081299023 |title=The Architecture of Diplomacy: The British Ambassador's Residence in Washington |publisher=Flammarion |date=21 April 2014}}
- Cameron at 10 (2015) with Peter Snowdon
- May at 10 (2020) with Raymond Newell
- Johnson at 10 (2024) with Raymond Newell
- Truss at 10 (2024) with Jonathan Meakin
- Path for Peace (2023)
- The Impossible Office (2024) with Jonathan Meakin, Illias Thoms and Tom Egerton
- History of the British Prime Minister
He has edited many books, including the series The Thatcher Effect (1989):{{cite book |last=Dennis Kavanagh |first=Anthony Seldon |title=The Thatcher Effect: A Decade of Change |year=1989 |publisher=Oxford Paperbacks |isbn=0198277466 |page=372}}
- The Major Effect (1994);{{cite book |last=Dennis Kavanagh |first=Anthony Seldon |title=The Major Effect |year=1994 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0333622731 |page=288}}
- The Blair Effect (2001){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=The Blair Effect |year=2001 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=0316856363}}
- The Blair Effect 2001–2005 (2005){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=The Blair Effect, 2001–5 |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521678609 |page=496}}
- Blair's Britain (2007){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Blair's Britain, 1997–2007 |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521709460 |page=708}}
- The Coalition Effect (2015) with Dr Mike Finn{{cite book |last1=Seldon |first1=Anthony |last2=Finn |first2=Mike |title=The Coalition Effect, 2010–2015 |year=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1107440180}}
- The Conservative Effect (2024) with Tom Egerton
- The Fourth Education Revolution with Oladimeji Abidoye; Buckingham University Press, 2018
- Public Schools and the Second World War, with David Walsh, Pen & Sword, 2020
- Other edited books include:
- Ruling Performance, with Professor Peter Hennessy and Conservative Century, with Professor Stuart Ball.
- He has written a number of booklets on education, including Private and Public Education: The Divide Must End (2000){{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Public & Private Education: The Divide Must End |year=2000 |publisher=The Social Market Foundation |isbn=1874097941}}
- Partnership not Paternalism (2001); An End To Factory Schools (2010);{{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=An End To Factory Schools |year=2010 |publisher=Centre for Policy Studies |isbn=978-1906996192 |page=88}}
- The Politics of Optimism (2012); and School United (2014). His 2011 Cass Lecture was published as 'Why Schools? Why Universities?'{{cite web |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Why Schools, Why Universities? |url=http://www.sirjohncass.org/index.php/news-and-resources/annual-lecture |work=Sir John Cass's Foundation |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126013940/http://www.sirjohncass.org/index.php/news-and-resources/annual-lecture |url-status=live}}
- He also founded two journals:
- Contemporary Record in 1987, renamed in 1996 as Contemporary British History
- and Twentieth Century British History in 1990, renamed Modern British History in 2024.
During his time at Brighton College, Seldon wrote Brave New City: Brighton & Hove Past, Present, Future, an analysis of the city of Brighton and Hove focused principally on its buildings.{{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Brave New City: Brighton & Hove Past, Present, Future |publisher=Pomegranate Press |location=Lewes, UK |year=2002 |isbn=0-9542587-1-1 |at=Introduction.}}
Work in education
Seldon is a headteacher and appears on television and radio and in the press,{{cite web |title=Anthony Seldon |url=http://journalisted.com/anthony-seldon |work=Journalisted |access-date=5 September 2013}} and has written regularly for national newspapers including The Times,{{cite web |title=Anthony Seldon |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/profile/Anthony-Seldon |work=The Times |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=15 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815083744/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/profile/Anthony-Seldon |url-status=dead}} The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian.{{cite web |title=Anthony Seldon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/anthonyseldon |work=The Guardian |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615052232/https://www.theguardian.com/profile/anthonyseldon |url-status=live}} His views on education have been sought by the government and political parties, with Seldon promoting co-education, the International Baccalaureate, independent education, the teaching of happiness and well-being, and "all-round" education.
Seldon has promoted well-being or happiness classes, which he introduced at Wellington College in 2006,{{cite news |title=School to give pupils lessons in happiness |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1516016/School-to-give-pupils-lessons-in-happiness.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=5 September 2013 |location=London |first=Stewart |last=Payne |date=18 April 2006 |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615052233/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1516016/School-to-give-pupils-lessons-in-happiness.html |url-status=live}} and campaigned for a holistic, personalised approach to education rather than what he calls "factory schools".{{cite news |title=We need to fix Britain's character flaws |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9267396/We-need-to-fix-Britains-character-flaws.html |access-date=5 September 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=15 May 2012 |location=London |first=Anthony |last=Seldon |archive-date=1 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101141506/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9267396/We-need-to-fix-Britains-character-flaws.html |url-status=live}} He is a proponent of the Harkness table teaching approach used in the US{{cite news |title=Oval Harkness table plan to stop pupils hiding in class |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/3146468/Oval-Harkness-table-plan-to-stop-pupils-hiding-in-class.html |access-date=5 September 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=6 October 2008 |location=London |first=Graeme |last=Paton |archive-date=16 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716233627/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/3146468/Oval-Harkness-table-plan-to-stop-pupils-hiding-in-class.html |url-status=live}} and the 'Middle Years' approach of the IB,{{cite news |title=Wellington College to poll parents on plan to drop GCSEs in favour of Baccalaureate |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/3779491/Wellington-College-to-poll-parents-on-plan-to-drop-GCSEs-in-favour-of-Baccalaureate.html |access-date=5 September 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=16 December 2008 |location=London |archive-date=25 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225090019/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/3779491/Wellington-College-to-poll-parents-on-plan-to-drop-GCSEs-in-favour-of-Baccalaureate.html |url-status=live}} as well a more international approach to education, including a focus on modern languages teaching{{cite web |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |title=Keynote speech: The Schools Network Annual Languages Conference, University of Warwick. 6 October 2011 |url=http://www.anthonyseldon.co.uk/pictures/Keynote%20speech%20SSAT%20Languages%20Oct%202011.pdf |access-date=24 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927124530/http://www.anthonyseldon.co.uk/pictures/Keynote%20speech%20SSAT%20Languages%20Oct%202011.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2013}}{{cite news |title=Mandarin language centre opens at Wellington College |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-18298110 |access-date=5 September 2013 |publisher=BBC News |date=2 June 2012 |archive-date=26 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226195638/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-18298110 |url-status=live}} and setting up sister schools in China.{{cite news |title=Wellington College tightens China link |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/asia-travel/china/wellington-college-tightens-china-link-rm60dfws7w3 |access-date=5 September 2013 |newspaper=The Times |date=1 March 2013 |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615052236/https://cdn.privacy-mgmt.com/wrapper/v2/messages?hasCsp=true&env=prod&body=%7B%22accountId%22%3A259%2C%22campaignEnv%22%3A%22prod%22%2C%22campaigns%22%3A%7B%22ccpa%22%3A%7B%22alwaysDisplayDNS%22%3Afalse%2C%22hasLocalData%22%3Afalse%2C%22targetingParams%22%3A%7B%7D%7D%2C%22gdpr%22%3A%7B%22consentStatus%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22targetingParams%22%3A%7B%7D%7D%7D%2C%22clientMMSOrigin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.privacy-mgmt.com%22%2C%22hasCSP%22%3Atrue%2C%22includeData%22%3A%7B%22localState%22%3A%7B%22type%22%3A%22string%22%7D%2C%22actions%22%3A%7B%22type%22%3A%22RecordString%22%7D%2C%22cookies%22%3A%7B%22type%22%3A%22RecordString%22%7D%7D%2C%22propertyHref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thetimes.co.uk%22%2C%22propertyId%22%3A5049%7D&localState=null&metadata=%7B%22ccpa%22%3A%7B%22applies%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22gdpr%22%3A%7B%22applies%22%3Afalse%7D%7D&nonKeyedLocalState=null&ch=446710079449740212bce6&scriptVersion=4.24.0&scriptType=unified |url-status=live}} On Friday 17 February 2023, he was announced as the interim head of Epsom College, beginning in March 2023, following the death of the previous head, Emma Pattison.{{cite news |date=2023-02-17 |title=Epsom College: New head appointed after school gun deaths |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-64677739 |access-date=2023-02-17}} He is now back at Wellington College as the Founding Director of Wellington College Education.
Achievements and awards
Seldon has honorary doctorates or fellowships from the University of Buckingham,{{cite web |title=University of Buckingham |url=http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/latest-news/graduation-2013/ |work=Website |access-date=5 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107175629/http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/latest-news/graduation-2013/ |archive-date=7 January 2016 |df=dmy-all}} the University of Brighton{{cite web |title=University of Brighton Honorary Doctorates |url=https://www.brighton.ac.uk/news/2004/040210graduates.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130905165522/https://www.brighton.ac.uk/news/2004/040210graduates.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 September 2013 |work=Website |access-date=5 September 2013}} and Richmond University{{cite web |title=University of Richmond Honorary Degree Recipients |url=http://www.richmond.ac.uk/content/admissions/about-richmond/honorary-degree-recipients.aspx |work=Website |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113165602/http://www.richmond.ac.uk/content/admissions/about-richmond/honorary-degree-recipients.aspx |archive-date=13 November 2013 |url-status=dead}} and is a former professor of Education at the College of Teachers.{{cite web |title=College of Teachers |url=http://www.collegeofteachers.ac.uk/ |work=Website |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926161736/http://www.collegeofteachers.ac.uk/ |archive-date=26 September 2013 |url-status=dead}} He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) and of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). He was appointed a fellow of King's College London (FKC) in 2013. He was knighted in the Queen's 2014 Birthday Honours list, and in 2016 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bath.
Other work
In 1986 Seldon co-founded, with Professor Peter Hennessy, the Institute of Contemporary British History, a body whose aim is to promote research into, and the study of, British history since 1945. Seldon is a co-founder of Action for Happiness with Richard Layard (Baron Layard), and Geoff Mulgan. He is also a patron of The Iris Project,{{cite web |title=The Iris Project |url=http://irisproject.org.uk/index.php |work=Website |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=11 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811142702/http://irisproject.org.uk/index.php/ |url-status=live}} which runs literacy schemes through Latin in schools in deprived urban areas and of DrugFAM,{{cite web |title=DrugFAM |url=http://www.drugfam.co.uk/ |work=Website |access-date=5 September 2013}} which supports families affected by a loved one's abuse of drugs or alcohol.
He was a board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company{{cite web |url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/press/releases/royal-shakespeare-company-annual-review-and-agm-for-2016-17 |title=Latest Press Releases | Royal Shakespeare Company}} and was executive producer of the 2017 film version of Journey's End.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3780500/fullcredits |title=Journey's End (2017) – IMDb |website=IMDb}}
He was the deputy chair and instigator of the Times Education Commission and of the Institute of Government to Commission on the Centre, former chair of the Comment Awards, president of the International Positive Education Network (IPEN), chair of the National Archives Trust and he was the originator of the Via Sacra/Western Front Way Walk.
Television and radio
Among his television work, he has presented In Search of Tony Blair (Channel 4, 2004){{cite web |title=In search of Tony Blair |url=http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/S/search_tony_blair/ |work=Channel 4 |access-date=6 September 2013}} and Trust Politics (BBC Two, 2010).{{cite web |title=Trust Politics |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rq3j7 |work=Website |publisher=BBC |access-date=6 September 2013 |archive-date=14 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114152905/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rq3j7 |url-status=live}}
Family
Seldon was married to Joanna Pappworth, who died from endocrine cancer in December 2016. Joanna was the daughter of medical ethicist Maurice Henry Pappworth. Anthony and Joanna met at Oxford, married in 1982, and had three children: Jessica, Susannah and Adam.{{cite web |last=Butter |first=Susannah |title=Sir Anthony Seldon on his late wife: 'She was spectacular, ferociously intelligent – I was in awe of her' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/sir-anthony-seldon-on-his-late-wife-she-was-spectacular-ferociously-intelligent-i-was-in-awe-of-her-a3451416.html |website=Evening Standard |date=27 January 2017 |access-date=9 February 2018 |archive-date=9 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209185556/https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/sir-anthony-seldon-on-his-late-wife-she-was-spectacular-ferociously-intelligent-i-was-in-awe-of-her-a3451416.html |url-status=live}} In 2022 he married Sarah Sayer; she had been a language teacher at Wellington College.{{cite news |last=Clarence-Smith |first=Louisa |title=Epsom College appoints Sir Anthony Seldon as new headteacher after Emma Pattison tragedy |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/epsom-college-appoint-new-headteacher-honour-emma-pattisons/ |access-date=18 February 2023 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=17 February 2023 |quote=Sir Anthony married Sarah Sayer, a former French teacher at Wellington College, last year. |archive-date=18 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218011010/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/epsom-college-appoint-new-headteacher-honour-emma-pattisons/ |url-status=live}}
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- {{official website |http://www.anthonyseldon.co.uk/}}{{dead link|date=June 2023}}
- {{IMDb name|1667749}}
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{{s-academic}}
{{s-bef |before=Terence Kealey}}
{{s-ttl |title=Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham |years=2015–2020}}
{{s-aft |after=James Tooley}}
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seldon, Anthony}}
Category:People educated at Tonbridge School
Category:Academics of the University of Buckingham
Category:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford
Category:Alumni of King's College London
Category:Fellows of King's College London
Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics
Category:Headmasters of Brighton College
Category:Masters of Wellington College, Berkshire
Category:Heads of schools in London
Category:Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
Category:Heads of schools in England
Category:People associated with the University of Buckingham
Category:Schoolteachers from Berkshire