16 Facts About Richard Lambert

Sir Richard Peter Lambert was born on 23 September 1944 and is a British journalist and business executive.

Richard Lambert served as director-general of the CBI, chancellor of the University of Warwick, editor of the Financial Times newspaper and chairman of the board of the British Museum.

Richard Lambert joined the Financial Times in 1966, editing the Lex Column in the paper in the 1970s.

Richard Lambert was editor of the FT from 1991 to 2001.

Richard Lambert became director-general of the Confederation of British Industry on 1 July 2006.

Richard Lambert wrote Government reports on BBC News 24 and chaired the Lambert Review on the relationship between higher education and business.

Richard Lambert was replaced by John Cridland as head of the CBI on 1 February 2011.

Richard Lambert was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of York in 2007.

Richard Lambert has other honorary degrees from City University, the University of Warwick, Brighton University and the University of Exeter.

Richard Lambert was appointed chancellor of the University of Warwick on 19 March 2008.

Richard Lambert formally took up the position on 1 August 2008, and was officially installed on 10 December of the same year.

Richard Lambert was knighted in the 2011 New Year Honours for service to business.

Richard Lambert took up the controversial role of chair of the board of the British Museum in 2014, a role described in an article published in his former newspaper the Financial Times as "a ceremonial role that mostly involves raising money and refusing to give the Greeks back the Elgin Marbles".

Richard Lambert complained of not having received sufficient advanced notice from Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif, who resigned from the board of trustees, citing its connection with "corporate sponsorship" and its failure to repatriate artifacts such as the Elgin Marbles.

Richard Lambert stood down from his role at the British Museum in October 2021 and was replaced by George Osborne.

Richard Lambert married Harriet Murray-Browne in 1973 and has two children.