[3] In 1979 and 1980 he was head of the Historic Buildings Branch of the Scottish Development Department, and from 1980 to 1987, was Director of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, based in London.
[4] After this, he spent four years as Director of Public Affairs for the National Trust, before his appointment as Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of the British Library from 1991 until 2000.
[10] The following year, Lang announced fifty scholarships for Scottish school pupils intended to tackle elitism by at improving diversity among the student body.
[14] During his first year at St Andrews, a member of the university's administrative staff sought compensation after making allegations that Lang had bullied, intimidated and sexually harassed her.
[18] At an unrelated employment tribunal in 2004, Lang drew on his background in social anthropology to compare an academic department at St Andrews to the Ik tribe of Uganda, who, he said, were noted for their "dishonesty, lying and cheating".
[23] Lang was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to the arts, heritage, and education.