Neil Mendoza, Baron Mendoza
British businessman, academic administrator, and member of the House of Lords (born 1959)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neil Francis Jeremy Mendoza, Baron Mendoza (born 2 November 1959) is a British businessman, academic administrator, and member of the House of Lords.[1][2]
2 November 1959
The Lord Mendoza | |
|---|---|
Mendoza in 2024 | |
| Provost of Oriel College, Oxford | |
| Assumed office 1 September 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Moira Wallace |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| Life peerage 16 September 2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Neil Francis Jeremy Mendoza 2 November 1959 London, England |
| Party | Conservative |
| Spouse |
Amelia Wallace (m. 1993) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree |
| Alma mater | Oriel College, Oxford |
Provost of Oriel College Oxford since September 2018,[3] Lord Mendoza has also served as HM Government Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal since May 2020.[4]
Early life and education
Neil Francis Jeremy Mendoza was born on 2 November 1959 in London to Martin and Dianne Mendoza.[5] Mendoza was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree, before going up to read geography at Oriel College, Oxford, matriculating in 1978.[6] He was a founding member of the Piers Gaveston Society.[7]
Career
After periods in banking and film finance, Mendoza co-founded Forward Publishing[8] with William Sieghart in 1986. Forward pioneered the custom media business in the UK[9] and became one of the leading independent contract publishers. The company specialised in international and multilingual projects with corporate partners including IBM, Tesco and Patek Philippe & Co.[10] In 2001, Forward was sold to WPP plc.
Mendoza was appointed the UK Government's Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal in May 2020,[4] and, on 31 July 2020, he was elevated to the peerage,[11] taking his seat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords.
During 2020, he played a leading role in the creation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport £2-billion Culture Recovery Fund and is a member of its board.[12]
He chairs the Culture and Heritage Capital Board.[13] He co-chaired a report, Boundless Creativity, for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.[14]
In 2016, Mendoza was appointed as Commissioner of Historic England by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,[15] before being appointed as a DCMS non-executive board member.[16]
In 2017, he published the Mendoza Review of Museums in England for the UK Government.[17] In the same year, Mendoza was also the lead reviewer on the Strategic Review of DCMS-sponsored museums conducted under Cabinet Office guidelines.[18][19]
The following year, he became provost at Oriel College, Oxford. During his tenure, in 2021, the college decided not to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes. "What we are doing is not applying for it to be removed," he said. "The governing body has expressed a wish for it to come down, but in the current regulatory and legislative environment it's not going to be possible. This has been a careful, finely balanced debate and we are fully aware of the impact our decision is likely to have in the UK and further afield."[20]
Lord Mendoza is currently Chairman of The Illuminated River Foundation. He is a non-executive director of Meira GTx, a gene therapy company with research facilities in New York and London.[21] He sits on the Board of Visitors for the Ashmolean Museum.[22]
In 2020, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin.[23]
He was previously Chairman of The Prince's Foundation for Children and The Arts, Vice-Chair of Soho Theatre, on the board of the Almeida Theatre and the Shakespeare Schools Foundation. He was also an independent trustee of The Daily Mail charity, Mail Force.[24] Appointed to the panel of The Taylor Review: Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals, he was a judge of the Laurence Olivier Awards for theatre for 2010 and 2011.[25]
Mendoza then served as Chairman of the Landmark Trust, a UK historic building preservation charity, from 2011 to 2021.[26]
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to arts and culture.[27]
In August 2023, it was announced that Mendoza had been appointed chair of Historic England. Describing it as "a great honour", he said: "I look forward to ensuring the ongoing protection of the nation's heritage estate and demonstrating the importance, beauty and value of our heritage to a wider society."[20]
House of Lords
In July 2020, it was announced that Mendoza had been nominated for a life peerage by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.[28] On 16 September 2020, he was created a life peer with the title Baron Mendoza, of King's Reach in the City of London.[29] He sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative Party peer,[30] and made his maiden speech on 10 November 2020.[31]
Personal life
Mendoza married Amelia Wallace in 1993. They have a son and a daughter.[5]