These included CEO Ed Fidoe, previously a manager at McKinsey & Company until leaving to co-found School 21 (a London-based primary and secondary school that focuses on disadvantaged students and emphasises multi-disciplinary education and communication skills) in 2012;[8][9][1] company chair Christopher Persson, an entrepreneur who co-founded the online restaurant reservation service Bookatable.

[5] and academic lead Carl Gombrich, previously a professor of Interdisciplinary Education at University College London, where he created its Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree.

[10] An order by the Office for Students, the UK's regulator of higher education, in 2020 gave LIS the power to award the specific taught degree of BASc (Hons) in Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods from 27 September 2021 to 31 December 2024.

[22][23] LIS has a board of directors providing oversight, an academic council, and an executive group which is responsible for operational issues.

[30][note 1] In contrast to the traditional subject-based approach, the curriculum for the BASc degree is designed around interdisciplinary problem solving.

Notable fellows have included; social philosopher Steve Fuller, psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, artist Jasmine Pradissitto, ballerina and quantum physicist Merritt Moore, and biomedical engineer David Edwards.

Notable partners have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the NHS, John Lewis, TfL, UK Health Security Agency, KPMG, JamJar, Entrepreneur First, and emlyon.

He contrasts LIS' "coherent and carefully designed" approach against other attempts at interdisciplinary education that combine unrelated modules or which focus on generic skills.

Whyman stresses that these problems have a political dimension and that solving them might involve radical changes to existing institutions such as major corporations or the police.

Hence, he argues, students face a conflict of interest when the same powerful institutions they could be reforming are involved in their education and work placement.

"[43] A leader in The Times observed "a familiar lament that the education system is too narrow for employers who need people who can solve complex problems that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries" and described it as "encouraging" that corporations are supporting the LIS in its polymathic approach.