Sir John Dixon Iklé Boyd (17 January 1936 – 18 October 2019) was a British ambassador and

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the Faculty (academic staff), faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint ...

. He was British ambassador to Japan from 1992 to 1996, and subsequently the Master of

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

from 1996 to 2006.

Early life and education

Boyd was born on 17 January 1936 to James Dixon Boyd and Amélie ( Lowenthal). His father would go on to be became Professor of Anatomy at the University of Cambridge. He was educated at Westminster School, an all-boys

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. He attended Clare College, Cambridge, where he initially read medicine before moving to modern languages. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. He was then awarded a postgraduate scholarship to study in the United States, and attended Yale University to undertake foreign area studies and to study

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. He graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1962.

Career

Diplomatic career

Boyd was a member of the Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service from 1962 to 1996. He served twice in Hong Kong (on the second occasion as Political Adviser to the Governor) and Beijing twice. Other postings included Bonn, Washington, and the UK Mission to the UN. At home he served as Deputy Under-Secretary for Defence and subsequently Chief Clerk of the FCO before his posting to Japan. His tenure in Tokyo saw a marked expansion in bilateral exchanges on a wide front. He holds the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

Other roles

Boyd was Master of

from 1996 to 2006. He was Chairman of the

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the British Museum from 2002 to 2006. Boyd served as Chairman of Asia House from 2010 to 2017.

Personal life

In 1968, Boyd married Gunilla Rönngren, a Swedish diplomat. They had two children, before divorcing in the 1970s. In 1977, he married Julia Raynsford. He had three daughters from his second marriage. Boyd died on 18 October 2019, at the age of 83.

References