Barnabas Speaker: Dr Chris Lewis OBE

OVs who have excelled in their chosen careers are invited back to King’s to join the Barnabas Group, named after St Barnabas, son of encouragement, to share their life experiences and to offer advice and inspiration to the school body. On a sunny Monday 17 October, we were honoured to welcome our first Barnabas Speaker of the new school year, OV Dr Chris Lewis OBE (Cl 86-95 and King’s St Alban’s).

Chris is currently Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of Expertise and Science Advice for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) (previously the Department for International Development , DFID). He has been at the forefront of public health solutions across the globe and, in 2021, was awarded an OBE for Services to International Development.

While at King’s, Chris was an active member of the school community, both as a Prefect for Chappel House and as a member of a number of teams and clubs including Athletics, Chess, Cross Country, DofE and the Himalayan Club. This was in addition to being a member of the School Orchestra and involved in many of the School’s drama productions. It was a trip to Nepal with the Himalayan Club led by John Walton that gave Chris his first experience of lower income countries . The expedition really opened his eyes and inspired his journey towards working in international aid.

After securing A Levels in chemistry, biology and maths, Chris went on to study medicine at the University of Southampton School of Medicine, continuing his studies to become a Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and thereafter specialising in Tropical Medicine, Humanitarian Aid and Public Health.

Most recently, Chris has been recognised for his work leading the scientific advice to inform the UK’s international response to crises. His recent work has been on the conflict in Ukraine, but over the past couple of years he has led the science which underpinned the UK’s global response to COVID-19, including identifying which international interventions had the strongest evidence of their effect and should be prioritised, as well as using scenarios to help COVID-19 strategies across the UK Government. Chris previously led DFID Nigeria’s health team from 2017-19, delivering health, nutrition, and water and sanitation programmes across Northern Nigeria. In other jobs with DFID, he has been involved in a number of outbreaks, initiating the UK’s response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone in 2014/15, resulting in the control of the outbreak. Chris has also been involved in research and development with DFID, developing a new £1billion programme designed to develop, test and deliver a range of new products to tackle infectious diseases.

Prior to DFID, Chris led Save the Children’s humanitarian health team from 2009 to 2012, responding to global crises, including the earthquake in Haiti, cholera in Zimbabwe, drought in the Horn of Africa, and conflict in Cote d’Ivoire. Prior to this, he spent four years living in South Sudan, working with Medair, Tearfund and the Ministry of Health on outbreak responses, TB and primary health care, budget and policy development and health coordination. Chris’ career began within the NHS as a General Practitioner, a role he continued alongside his international work for many years.

For Barnabas Day, Chris addressed the School in morning Assembly in College Hall. The Sixth Form joined in person, with the remainder of the School watching from their form rooms via a live link. Chris spoke eloquently about failure, how those talking about their distinguished careers often gloss over the failures that helped get them where they were. Chris himself acknowledged there were many times he had not been successful in job applications, multiple exams he had failed, (including failing his driving test four times!), and the importance in life of getting back up after failures knock you down. He shared how his time at King’s had given him the necessary confidence to speak with people from all walks of life, including those high in political office. Chris discussed his career, sharing that apart from being a GP, all the jobs he has done are roles he had not heard of while at School, showing how curiosity can play such an important role in career choice by not focusing solely on ‘the known’, and that a career is likely to be made up of multiple different chapters. Chris’s talk received resounding applause from a captivated audience. You can listen to Chris’s full speech via YouTube here.

After the Assembly, Chris joined Head of Alumni and Business Development, Hannah Sparrey, for a walk around King’s and King’s St Alban’s to see how both schools have evolved since his time.

In the Annett Building, or as many OVs know it, the ‘New Block’, Chris revisited his old House room, which is currently a maths classroom where Graham Ward (Hon OV) teaches. Graham and his class enjoyed speaking with Chris, who in turn shared with the class that he once performed a rendition of a Take That song during a Chappell House Christmas party in there!

Chris was very impressed with the Michael Baker Boathouse and by the sheer number boats; when he was at King’s there were only a handful. Chris added that his sister, Dr Elizabeth Lewis (Cl 91-01 and King’s St Alban’s) had been a keen rower whilst at School and would have relished such a great facility. In the Michael Baker Boathouse, Emma McGinley (Director of Netball) was teaching a PE class and stopped to talk to Chris. She said how inspirational his talk had been and how many of the pupils had similarly commented.

Having studied History GCSE with Tom Sharp (Hon OV), who he met during the day, Chris was keen to visit No. 12 College Green, where Head of History, Emmah Ferguson (Hon OV) was thrilled to welcome Chris into her classroom. She was incredibly interested to hear about his experiences with COBR Meetings during the Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic. They also discussed previous teachers and housemasters; they both had very fond memories of Stephan Le Marchand (Hon OV). Chris also visited the Biology rooms where he did GCSE and A Levels, where he recalled losing his trousers in the classroom due to a dye spillage!

Chris then joined the Headmaster, Gareth Doodes, and Heads of School, Bobby R and Katie P, who presented him with the Barnabas Shield in recognition of his achievements and with the School’s thanks for his time. They enjoyed speaking about Chris’s experiences, during which Chris added how much he had enjoyed his time at King’s.

After morning break, Hannah took Chris across the road to King’s St Alban’s, where Headmaster Richard Chapman (Hon OV) joined them. Chris recalled playing marble run down the side of the playground where there used to be a long stretch of dirt. They visited what had been Chris’ dormitory while he was there but is now the French room. Chris shared how he and his dormmates used to dare each other to try to sneak down to the Chapel after lights out!

Chris also bumped into School friend, Adam Winter (Cl 84-94), who is Estates Manager at King’s, and whose father, Paul Winter, had been Chris’s Headmaster when he was at King’s St Alban’s: the close-knit King’s family in action!

Thank you, Chris, for your time and such an insightful and thought-provoking Assembly; we are incredibly grateful.