Nottingham alumnus is the new head of MI6

PA 164/09 A University of Nottingham alumnus has been appointed the new chief of MI6, Downing Street has announced. Sir John Sawers, 53, will head up the overseas Secret Intelligence Service from November, replacing outgoing chief Sir John Scarlett. Currently one of the country's top diplomats as the British Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Sir John's appointment to MI6 follows a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years. He graduated from The University of Nottingham in 1976 with a degree in Physics and Philosophy, before taking up a career with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, working in Yemen and Syria early in his career followed by a posting to South Africa from 1988-91, during the first part of the transition from apartheid. From 1995-98 Sir John was based in the USA, spending a year as an International Fellow at Harvard University before joining the British Embassy in Washington where he headed the team dealing with foreign and defence policy issues. After this posting he was Foreign Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, dealing with all aspects of foreign and defence policy and working closely with international counterparts, including during the Kosovo conflict. He also worked on Northern Ireland and the implementation of the Good Friday agreement.