{{short description|British banker and academic administrator}} {{use British English|date=September 2025}} {{use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Michael McWilliam | honorific_suffix = KCMG, MA, BLitt | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1933|06|21}} | birth_place = Kericho, Kenya | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|df=y|????|??|??|1933|06|21}} --> | death_place = | death_cause = | citizenship = <!-- per WP:INFONAT --> | other_names = | occupation = Banker<br/>Academic administrator<br/>Historian | period = | known_for = Director of SOAS University of London | boards = Commonwealth Development Corporation | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = | website = | education = | alma_mater = Oriel College, Oxford<br/>Nuffield College, Oxford | employer = Standard Chartered Bank<br/>SOAS University of London }} '''Michael McWilliam''' (born 1933) is a former British banker, academic administrator, and historian.<ref name="memoir">{{cite book| title=Finding Home: A memoir | first=Michael | last=McWilliam | publisher=Penhaligon Press | date=2022 | isbn=978-1914076305 }}</ref> He was the Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London during 1989–1996.<ref name="soas">{{cite web| url=https://blogs.soas.ac.uk/archives/2017/01/10/academics-agents-and-activists-a-history-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies-1916-2016-5/ | title=McWilliam years 1988–1996 | work=Academics, Agents and Activists: A history of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1916–2016 | publisher=SOAS University of London | location=UK | access-date=9 September 2025 }}</ref>
McWilliam was born in Kenya on a tea estate.<ref name="memoir" /> His father was Douglas Sidney McWilliam (1904–1969), who worked for the Kenya Tea Company.<ref name="europeansineastafrica">{{cite web| url=https://www.europeansineastafrica.co.uk/_site/custom/database/default.asp?a=viewIndividual&pid=2&person=15675 | title=McWILLIAM, Douglas Sydney | website=Europeans In East Africa | location=UK | access-date=9 September 2025 }}</ref> He was educated in Cheltenham and then at the University of Oxford, graduated from Oriel College and Nuffield College. After his education, he returned to Africa, initially to the Northern Rhodesia Copperbelt. During 1956–7, he undertook research in East Africa, funded through a Rockefeller Foundation grant via Nuffield College, Oxford and further funding from the Tea Board of Kenya.<ref name="bodleian">{{cite web| url=https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/11137 | title=Archive of Sir Michael McWilliam relating to the Tea Industry in East Africa | publisher=Bodleian Library, University of Oxford | location=UK | access-date=9 September 2025 }}</ref> He moved to the Kenya Treasury in 1958.
Later, McWilliam worked in banking, becoming the chief executive of the Standard Chartered Bank in the City of London.<ref name="memoir" /> He then became the Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). During his time at SOAS, the Department of Music was founded in 1988.<ref name="soas" /> Though his career, he maintained an interest in the British Commonwealth, with roles in a number of related organisations, including as a Board member of the Commonwealth Development Corporation in the 1990s. During 1998–2012, he was Chairman of the Centre for the Study of African Economies in Oxford.<ref name="bodleian" /> He was also concurrently Chairman of the Cheltenham Festivals during 2007–2011.
McWilliam was awarded a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1996 on his retirement.<ref name="memoir" /> His portrait was painted by Aldo Balding in 2014.<ref name="soas" /> He has archive material in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, donated in 2020.<ref name="bodleian" /> He is an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.<ref name="oriel">{{cite web| url=https://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/people/sir-michael-mcwilliam/ | title=Sir Michael McWilliam KCMG, MA, BLitt | publisher=Oriel College, Oxford | location=UK | access-date=9 September 2025 }}</ref>
==Books== * {{cite book| url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Development-Business-Commonwealth-Corporation-McWilliam/dp/B00LY0S1JC/ | title=The Development Business: A History of the Commonwealth Development Corporation | first=Michael | last=McWilliam | publisher=Palgrave MacMillan | date=2001 }} * {{cite book| title=Simba Chai: The Kenya tea industry | first=Michael | last=McWilliam | publisher=Prepare to Publish | date=2020 | isbn=978-1905315154 }} * {{cite book| title=Finding Home: A memoir | first=Michael | last=McWilliam | publisher=Penhaligon Press | date=2022 | isbn=978-1914076305 }}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{s-bef|before=Jeremy Cowan}} {{s-ttl|title=Director of SOAS University of London|years=1989–1996}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Tim Lankester}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McWilliam, Michael}} Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:People from Kericho County Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Category:Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Category:20th-century British businesspeople Category:British bankers Category:British chief executives Category:20th-century British historians Category:21st-century British historians Category:British autobiographers Category:British male autobiographers Category:Directors of SOAS University of London Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George