Boyle Lecture Trustees

The Boyle Lectures are under the guidance and direction of a board of trustees. Members of the board are identified below. The Convenor of the series is Michael Byrne.

The Revd George R. Bush has been Rector of St Mary-le-Bow since 2002. He was educated at St John’s College, Cambridge, and trained for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon and (briefly) at United Theological College, Bangalore. He was ordained in 1985 to a parish in inner-city Leeds. He was then Chaplain of St John’s College, Cambridge, before returning to London, first as Vicar of St Anne’s Hoxton, and now Rector of St Mary-le-Bow. He is Immediate Past President of Sion College, and trustee of a number of charities.

Dr Michael Byrne studied genetics at Trinity College Dublin and also holds postgraduate degrees in history of London, systematic theology and history of science. He works as chief operating officer of a City-based head-hunting company. He is also a magistrate and has been a member of the governing body at Birkbeck College since 2000.

The Rt Revd & Rt Hon. Dr Richard Chartres KCVO became the 132nd Bishop of London in November 1995. He read History at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was ordained in 1973. He was consecrated Bishop of Stepney in 1992, appointed Dean of HM Chapels Royal in 1996 and a Privy Counsellor. He founded St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and is currently the Chairman of the Trustees. His publications include 'The History of Gresham College 1597-1997' (with David Vermont) and 'Tree of Knowledge, Tree of Life' (2005) and many articles and essays especially on religion and the environment.

The Rt Hon. the Earl of Cork & Orrery, Jonathan Cork, whose family name is Boyle and is a many times great-nephew of Robert Boyle, entered the Royal Navy through Dartmouth in 1963, served in submarines and retired in 1979 to join the City trading firm of E.D. & F. Man Ltd. He retired as a director of E.D. & F. Man Sugar Ltd in 2006 although he still works part time in a consultative role for the company. He is currently Life Governor of the Society for the Advancement of the Christian Faith, Chairman of the Trustees of the Chichester Cathedral Restoration and Redevelopment Trust and a Trustee of the charity MapAction.

Sir Brian Jenkins GBE was born in 1935 and educated at Tonbridge and Trinity College, Oxford and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery and served in Gibraltar during National Service. He is Deputy Chairman of Barclays plc and Chairman of CAF (Charities Aid Foundation). Previously he was Chairman of Woolwich plc and a senior partner in Coopers & Lybrand, where he spent much of his working career. He served as Lord Mayor of London in 1991 to 1992. In the City, he has served on the Takeover Panel and is a member of the Financial Law Panel. In the livery, he has been Master of the Chartered Accountants', Information Technologists' and Merchant Taylors' Companies. He is a Trustee of the Nuffield Trust for the Forces of the Crown, Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and Crimestoppers.

The Revd Dr John Polkinghorne KBE began his career as a Physicist at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1956 he was appointed a Lecturer in Mathematical Physics at Edinburgh: returning to Cambridge as a Lecturer in 1958, he was promoted to Reader in 1965 and Professor in 1968. In 1974 he was elected FRS and awarded the ScD by Cambridge. In 1979 he resigned his Professorship to train for the Anglican Priesthood, studying at Westcott House. He was Canon Theologian of Liverpool Cathedral 1994-2005 and Six Preacher, Canterbury Cathedral 1996-97. He was appointed an Honorary Professor of Physics at the University of Kent in 1984. In 1986 he was appointed Fellow, Dean and Chaplain at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and in 1989 he was appointed President of Queens’ College, from which he retired in 1996. He was made KBE in 1997. He was awarded the Templeton Prize for Science and Religion in 2002 and also in that year became the Founding President of the International Society for Science and Religion. He is an Honorary Fellow of St Chad’s College, Durham, St Edmund’s College, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He is the author of many books about science and religion.

The Rt Hon. the Earl of Selborne (John Selborne) is a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and chairs the Board of Trustees of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has previously chaired The Agricultural and Food Research Council and The Joint Nature Conservation Committee. He was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1997 to 2000 and Master of The Mercers Company in 1989.

Mr Julian Tregoning, having worked for Save & Prosper and Flemings for many years, is a London Director of The Bank of New York Mellon. In the 1990s he was Chairman of the Investment Management Association and President of EFAMA. He has served as Master of the Grocers' Company and Chairman of the City of London Club, and is a Governor of Oundle School and a Trustee of the Mansion House Scholarship Scheme and The Lord Mayor's Trust for Charities. 

Mr David Vermont was educated at Mercers' School and Christ's College, Cambridge, David Vermont worked for thirty-three years in the Sedgwick Group and subsequently for a French reinsurance company after retirement. He has been a member of the Honourable Artillery Company since 1949 and served as Master of the Mercers' Company 1981-2. He has chaired the Argentine Diocesan Association, the London Handel Society and Gresham College Council, and has been governor of St. Paul's Girls' School.