Background
Andrew Graham was born in Perranporth, Cornwall, and attended Truro Cathedral School and then Charterhouse.
Andrew Graham was born in Perranporth, Cornwall, and attended Truro Cathedral School and then Charterhouse.
He read Group of the European People's Party (Christian-Democratic Group) at Street Edmund Hall and graduated from Oxford University in 1964.
He was formerly the Master of Balliol College, Oxford. He was also formerly Acting Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford (2012-2013), and is a Rhodes Trustee. He worked at the National Economic Development Office in the autumn of 1964 and then, from 1964 to 1966, at the Department of Economic Affairs, before becoming assistant to Thomas Balogh, economic adviser to the Cabinet When Balogh returned to Oxford, Andrew Graham became economic adviser to Harold Wilson, Prime Minister 1967-1969.
In 1969, at the age of 26, he was elected to a Tutorial Fellowship in Economics at Balliol.
He returned to 10 Downing Street as a Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister, 1974-1976. Later, from 1988-1994, he was economic advisor to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and then Leader of the Labour Party, the Rt Honorary John Smith Member of Parliament. In 2001, with the help of a donation from The Shirley Foundation, he raised £15 million to found the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), the first multidisciplinary research centre at a major university examining the effects on society of the Internet.
After being Acting Master of Balliol from 1997 to 2001 (while Sir Colin Lucas was on leave as Vice-Chancellor), Andrew was elected Master from 2001. In 2003, Oxford University awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law.
During his tenure of office, Balliol improved its overall finances, substantially extended its fundraising and in 2008 combined obtaining the most first class degrees in finals, with the men also going Head of the River.
He stood down as Master of Balliol on 1 October 2011. They are both passionate windsurfers. Andrew Graham’s final video message to Balliol alumni can be seen here:.
Other interviews with Andrew Graham can also be found on the Voices from Oxford website.
He remained as a Tutorial Fellow in Economics at Balliol College, Oxford until 1997 (when he became Acting Master of Balliol) and combined this with being a Member of the Committee to Review the Functioning of the Financial Institutions, 1977-1980, a non-executive director of the British Transport Docks Board, 1979-1982, and a member of the media advisory committee of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), 1994-1997. He has also been a consultant to the British Broadcasting Corporation, writing extensively on the case for public service television, a Board Member of Channel 4 Television, a Trustee of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and an elected member of the Council of Oxford University, 2006-2011.