Sir Cyril Julian Hebden Taylor (14 May 1935 – 29 January 2018) was a British educator and social entrepreneur, who founded the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) in 1964.

[3] Taylor was appointed a director of Margaret Thatcher’s Think Tank, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and began his political career on the Greater London Council (GLC) as the member for Ruislip-Northwood.

Following the abolition of the GLC in 1986, Taylor was called upon by Thatcher, Prime Minister, to assist with the emerging problem of rising youth unemployment.

Taylor was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1989 Birthday Honours for services to education in recognition of the success of the CTC initiative.

[7] The Reverend died from pneumonia in Switzerland four months before Taylor's birth in 1935, leaving Marjorie to raise him, his brother and his four sisters.

[14] Taylor left the army in March 1956, just prior to going up to Cambridge University and took a teaching job for a term at a private boarding school.

[16] In 1957 Taylor assisted a friend at Cambridge, Miles Halford, who had chartered two DC6 aeroplanes to fly fellow students who wanted to work their summer university break in North America and Canada.

After graduating from Cambridge with a second-class honours degree, he was accepted onto the MBA programme by Harvard Business School in September 1959, majoring[18] in Entrepreneurial studies in his final year.

Whilst working at Procter & Gamble, Taylor met and later married, French language teacher, Judy Denman.

[20] It was when Taylor helped Denman to organise an educational trip for her pupils to France, to learn French, that he came up with the idea of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS).

This led to thousands of British and other foreign students travelling to the USA to work as camp counsellors during their summer vacations.

Taylor helped Conservative Spencer Le Marchant win the Labour held marginal High Peak seat in Derbyshire in the 1970 General Election.

However, Taylor wanted was a safer seat near to London that would work well with his professional career and also to fit with his family life and so he resigned as the candidate for Keighley after the election.

In 1977 he was given the opportunity to stand as the Greater London Council (GLC) Conservative candidate[27] for Ruislip-Northwood and won a significant victory.

Sir Horace Cutler, appointed Taylor to be the chairman of the council’s Professional and General Services Committee, which supervised the employment of 25,000 GLC staff.

Taylor did not agree with Margaret Thatcher’s decision to abolish the GLC and made his views public in a Bow Group paper "London Preserved".

Taylor was then appointed as special adviser to organise the project and in May 1987 established the City Technology Colleges Trust (CTCT).

Taylor suggested an alternative, less expensive option involving converting existing comprehensive schools to specialist technology colleges.

Taylor sought the support of the Labour Government so that his educational reforms [32] through CTCs and the raising of standards in specialist schools could continue.

[40] The foundation funds the Sir Cyril Taylor Memorial Award for Social Entrepreneurship, a Fulbright Commission scholarship that helps students from the United Kingdom study a master's degree at any desired university in America.

In 2004, Tony Blair recommended that Taylor be given the honour of Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE) for services to education.