Respected former UK envoy to Israel will head London zoo group

Matthew Gould, who championed UK-Israel collaboration in science, moves to ZSL from digital health at the NHS

A popular former British ambassador to Israel who spearheaded several ground-breaking bilateral partnerships in science and technology has stepped down from his senior NHS role to become head of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

Matthew Gould, whose digital health team was behind Britain’s award-winning Covid Pass, will become the ZSL’s new director-general next week, saying the rate of global extinctions meant that it was a big job at a big moment.

“The work of ZSL has never been more necessary or important,” he said. “Every day, more than a hundred species go extinct. Saving species is not a luxury, it is critical to humanity’s own health and survival.”

Over a varied career, Gould has held diplomatic postings in Tehran, Islamabad, Washington, and Manila. He has taught in Zimbabwe, done ecological research in Tanzania, and published research on the feeding preferences of termites.

A visiting professor at Leeds University, he has an Honorary Doctorate from Ben Gurion University, a CMG for services to the scientific and tech partnership between Britain and Israel, and an MBE for services to child protection in the Philippines.

Praising ZSL’s staff and its 155,000 members, he said: “My mission will be to give it a laser-like focus on saving species – through its zoos, its advocacy, its science and its conservation projects around the world.”

Most recently, Gould led the digital transformation of health and care team, guiding the NHS through the pandemic by developing the NHS Datastore, allowing the crisis to be managed using real-time data.

Before that, he was the Government’s first director-general for Digital and Media, as well as its cyber security director. While in Israel, he built an ambitious programme of scientific collaboration on regenerative medicine.

Prof. Sir John Beddington, President of ZSL, said: “The challenges faced by the world cannot be underestimated. We are losing biodiversity at an alarming pace. ZSL is in a unique position to make a real difference.”