John Humphrys
Presenter, British Broadcasting Corporation

John Humphrys has been a presenter of Radio 4's Today programme since January 1987. Renowned as a tough and tenacious interviewer, his work on Today and for many years on BBC1's On the Record, has made him one of the organisation's most respected journalists and presenters.

During his career with the BBC, John has also worked as a foreign correspondent in both America and Africa, as well as being a diplomatic correspondent and presenter of the Nine O'Clock News. He has presented Panorama and You Decide, currently fronts On the Ropes on Radio 4 and Mastermind on BBC2.

John's interviews on Today have occasionally attracted criticism from politicians, among them Jonathan Aitken, who in March 1995 accused him of "poisoning the well of democratic debate". The criticism triggered an outbreak of pro-Humphrys comment among listeners and the media, including the Daily Mail which described him as "one of the most brilliant journalists in the country".

The many awards he has won include a silver platter for Crystal Clear Broadcasting from the Plain English Campaign. In February 2000, he was named Journalist of the Year in an awards ceremony organised by the House Magazine and Channel 4, then in 2003 received the Gold Sony Radio Award (the radio industry's equivalent of the Oscars).

John joined the BBC as a reporter based in Liverpool in 1966 and a year later became Northern Industrial Correspondent. He moved to London in 1970 but spent long periods covering Northern Ireland and then began foreign assignments with the India-Pakistan War.

Aged 28, John became the BBC's first full-time television correspondent in the United States and the youngest television foreign correspondent. Based in New York for a year and Washington for five, he covered stories from Alaska to the tip of South America, including the revolution in Chile, Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon.

Moving to South Africa in 1977 he covered, among other things, the transformation of Rhodesia into Zimbabwe and returned to London in 1980 to take up the post of BBC Diplomatic Correspondent.

In 1981 John joined the Nine O'Clock News team as its main presenter before moving to the Today programme in 1987 and in addition becoming, in September 1993, the presenter of BBC1's former weekly political programme, On the Record.

John was born in Cardiff on August 17, 1943. After leaving Cardiff High School at the age of fifteen he worked as a reporter for various newspapers for six years and spent two years as a scriptwriter and reporter for independent television.

John has served as the moderator at two previous global public policy symposia.