John Leonard Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, (born 2 February 1945) is a British

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

who was President of

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, from 1996 to 2020. A former senior advisor to the Labour Party, Lord Eatwell sat in the House of Lords as a non-affiliated peer from 2014 to 2020, before returning to the Labour bench.

Early life and education

Eatwell was born on 2 February 1945. He was educated at Headlands Grammar School in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

in Wiltshire. He studied at

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1967: as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Cantab) degree in 1971. As a

Kennedy Scholar Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for up to ten British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan Hockfield, the sixteenth president of MIT, described the scho ...

, he studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and graduated with a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in 1975.

Career

Academic career

While studying for his doctorate at

, Eatwell was a

teaching fellow A teaching fellow (sometimes referred to as a TF) is an individual at a higher education institution, including universities, whose work involves teaching and potentially pedagogic research. The work done by teaching fellows can vary significantl ...

in the

Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences The Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) is the largest of the twelve graduate schools of Harvard University, when measured by the number of degree-seeking students. Formed in 1872, GSAS is responsible for most o ...

from 1968 to 1969 and a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

, from 1969 to 1970. In 1970, he was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, and would stay with the college for the next 36 years. Having completed his doctorate in 1975, he was an assistant lecturer (1975–1977) and then lecturer (1977–2002) in the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

's Faculty of Economics and Politics. He was additionally a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

in economics at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

in New York City from 1982 to 1996. He was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1997 to 2020, and Professor of Financial Policy at the

Cambridge Judge Business School Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. The School is a provider of management education. It is named after Sir Paul Judge, a founding benefactor of the school. The School is a department of the u ...

from 2002 to 2012. In May 2014, Lord Eatwell was appointed Chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

Political career

Eatwell was chief economic adviser to

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 Labour Party le ...

, the then-Leader of the Labour Party, from 1985 to 1992. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Eatwell, of

Stratton St Margaret Stratton St Margaret is a civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The parish covers north-eastern suburbs of Swindon including Stratton St Margaret itself, along with Upper Stratton, Lower Stratton and Kingsdown. Geograph ...

in the County of Wiltshire, on 14 July 1992, and joined the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a Labour peer. From 1992 to 1993, he was the opposition spokesman on

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

affairs, and on

trade and industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a Ministry (government), ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Min ...

. He served as Principal Opposition spokesman on Treasury and economic affairs in the House of Lords from 1993 to 1997. In 2010, he was appointed a Labour Opposition Spokesman for the Treasury in the House of Lords by former leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for D ...

.Lord Eatwell
on the Parliamentwebsite, 22 October 2010 From 27 March 2014 to 23 April 2020, he sat as a non-affiliated peer. Once more sitting as a Labour peer, he has served on the Lords Industry and Regulators Committee since 14 April 2021.

Other works

Eatwell was chair of CRUSAID, an HIV/AIDS charity, from 1993 to 1998, and of the

British Library Board The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

from 2001 to 2006.

Personal life

Eatwell was married to Hélène Seppain, with whom he has three children. In 2006, he married

Suzi Digby Susan Elizabeth Digby, Baroness Eatwell Order of the British Empire, OBE (née Watts; born 1 July 1958), known as Suzi Digby, is a British choral conductor and music educator. Early life Born in Japan as Susan Elizabeth Watts, she attended F ...

Selected bibliography

Books

* * * * * * * * * * *

Chapters in books

* * * * * * * * * * *
Pdf version.

Journal articles

* * * * * (Originally printed in ''Ekonomiska'' in 1973.) * * * * * * * * * *
Pdf version.
* * * * * *

Papers

* Eatwell, John; Ellman, Michael; Karlsson, Mats; Nuti Mario; and Shapiro, Judith. (1997)
Not 'just another accession': the political economy of EU enlargement to the East
'. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. * Eatwell, John and Taylor, Lance (2000)
Capital flows and the international financial architecture: a paper from the Project on Development, Trade, and International Finance
'. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Press. * Eatwell, John; Ellman, Michael; Karlsson, Mats; Nuti Mario; and Shapiro, Judith. (2000)
Hard budgets and soft states: social policy choices in central and eastern Europe
'. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. * Eatwell, John

Persaud, Avinash; and Reoch, Robert. (2007)
Financial supervision and crisis management in the EU
'. Brussels: European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Arms

References

External links

They Work For You profile

more information
Professor Lord Eatwell Director of CERF

Queens' College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eatwell, John, Baron Eatwell 1945 births Living people Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge Presidents of Queens' College, Cambridge British economists Post-Keynesian economists Harvard University alumni Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II