William Ehrman
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Sir William Geoffrey Ehrman (born 28 August 1950) is a retired British diplomat and former Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.


Early life

Ehrman was born on 28 August 1950 to the historian John Patrick William Ehrman and
Susan Blake Susan Blake is an American politician from the state of South Dakota. Blake served in the South Dakota House of Representatives for District 13 from 2009 to 2012. She was the Democratic Party's nominee for Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota in ...
. He was educated at
Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
, followed by
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, from which he graduated with a first class degree in
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
.


Career

Ehrman joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1973 and had postings in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. He was Principal Private Secretary to three Foreign Secretaries from 1995 to 1997 and the British Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1998 to 2000. He was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Director General for Defence and Intelligence between 2002 and 2004, before becoming Chairman of the United Kingdom's Joint Intelligence Committee from 2004 to 2005 and British Ambassador to China from 2006 to 2010. Ehrman gave evidence to the
Iraq Inquiry The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)


Personal life

Ehrman is married to Penelope Anne Le Patourel (daughter of
Brigadier Wallace Le Patourel Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
), and the couple have three daughters and a son.


References


External links

Living people People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of HM Diplomatic Service Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Luxembourg Chairs of the Joint Intelligence Committee (United Kingdom) Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 1950 births Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 20th-century British diplomats {{UK-diplomat-stub