Paul Warwick Thompson

Paul Warwick Thompson (born 9 August 1959) is the current Chair of the British Council. He was Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art from 2009 to 2024.

Thompson was educated at Bryanston School, the University of Bristol (BA) and the University of East Anglia (MA, PhD).

Thompson worked as a scriptwriter and researcher for the Design Council 1987–88. He then joined the Design Museum as curator of contemporary design and from 1993 to 2001 was its director. He was a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from 2009 to 2023, and was on the board of visitors of the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford from 2013 to 2019. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Universities UK from 2020 to 2023.

He is a member of the Wellcome Collection Programme Advisory Committee at the Wellcome Trust, London. He is an adjunct professor at Imperial College's Institute for Global Health Innovation. He co-directs the Helix Centre with Professor Lord Ara Darzi. Since 2020 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees, Creative UK.

He was appointed CBE in the 2024 Birthday Honours, for services to the Arts.