He was chairman of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales from 1996 to 2000.
After serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery from 1953 to 1955, he joined the Civil Service in 1955, as Assistant Principal in the Ministry of Supply.
He also worked in the Ministry of Aviation, the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry, becoming Under-secretary in the DTI in 1974 and serving as Deputy Secretary at the Department of Energy between 1976 and 1983.
He was chairman of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales from 1996 until his death.
[citation needed] He was appointed a Freeman of the City of London in 1986, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1987 and a Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland in 1997.