Annan, Noel Gilroy Annan, Baron, 1916-2000

Noel Gilroy Annan was born in 1916 and attended Stowe School and King's College, Cambridge. He served during World War Two in the War Office Cabinet Offices and Military Intelligence, 1940-1944, and as GSO1 at the Political Division of the British Control Commission, 1945-1946. He became a Fellow at King's College, Cambridge, in 1947, and remained there as a Lecturer in Politics from 1948 to 1966, during which period he was Provost of the College, 1956-1966. In 1966 he was appointed Provost at University College London, a post which he held until 1978. Annan was Vice-Chancellor of the University of London from 1978 to 1981. His other positions included acting as a Governor of Stowe School, 1945-1966, and Queen Mary College, London, 1956-1960; Trustee of Churchill College, Cambridge, 1958-1976, the British Museum, 1963-1980, and the National Gallery, 1978-1985; and the Director of the Royal Opera House, 1967-1978. He sat on numerous committees, most notably the Public Schools Commission, 1966-1970, and the Committee on the Future of Broadcasting, 1974-1977. In addition, Annan published several books, including Our age: portrait of a generation (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1990); Leslie Stephen: his thought and character in relation to his time (MacGibbon and Kee, London, 1951); Leslie Stephen: the godless Victorian (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1984); Changing enemies: the defeat and regeneration of Germany (HarperCollins, London, 1995); and The dons: mentors, eccentrics and geniuses (HarperCollins, London, 1999).Annan was given a life peerage in 1965. He died in 2000.

From the guide to the Annan, Noel Gilroy, Baron Annan, 1974-1977, (Senate House Library, University of London)