Researching Jonathan Kydd

Professor Kydd is currently Dean of the University of London International Programmes (which has a current enrolment of over 50,000 students) and Visiting Professor at the Imperial College London. Prior to his appointment at the University of London, Professor Kydd was Director of the Distance Learning Programme, Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, which focuses on international development and poverty reduction, sustainability, environment, biodiversity, economics and agribusiness. While in the latter role, Professor Kydd was instrumental in helping to create the MSc in Applied Environmental Economics, a programme which now boasts over 1000 students and over 40 courses.

Professor Kydd has extensive experience in Africa (he was Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Malawi in the early 1980s) and the natural resources sector, together with a particular interest in the role of the private sector in development. His subject expertise is in agricultural policy analysis (especially links between the agricultural sector and the macro economy); economic liberalisation and structural adjustment; the role of the agricultural sector in the transition from central planning to the market; rural development and finance; food security and agricultural projects.

Professor Kydd is a non-executive director of CDC Plc, a leading private equity investor in emerging markets.

His first acting role was in the 1962 British comedy film The Iron Maiden, in which he appeared aged 6 with his father. His father is the actor Sam Kydd who was in over 290 films. He has recently published the first volume of his father’s memoirs ‘Be a Good Boy Sam 1945-52’. His mother, Pinkie, was one of England's first female advertising copywriters and also played table tennis eleven times for England and was World Doubles Finalist in 1949. He has been on many TV shows but has been very successful as a voice over voicing video games, advertisements, corporates, documentaries and cartoons and being a regular on Radio 4 comedy. He was recently an executive producer on the horror film Lair. He has fronted many comedy bands and sings and writes for The Rudy Vees. He podcasts on The Chelsea Fancast every week about Chelsea FC and does the two minute Chelsea Fanbite for the Fancast. He has written 4 musicals. His short film ‘Ahaarrr’ won several awards at many film festivals. His recent video ‘Posh’ a 1930s grime track was described as ‘a bizarrely brilliant work of art’