Stephen Lander

Stephen Lander
Born1947 (age 76–77)
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
Occupation(s)Intelligence officer, Academic
AwardsKCB
Espionage activity
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service branchMI5
Service years1975–2002
RankDirector General of MI5

Sir Stephen James Lander, KCB (born 1947) is a former chairman of the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), who also served as Director General of the British Security Service (MI5) from 1996 to 2002.

Career[edit]

Lander attended Parkside School, then located in East Horsley, prior to its move to Cobham,[1][2] Bishop's Stortford College and Queens' College, Cambridge, where he earned a doctorate in history entitled The diocese of Chichester 1508–1558 : Episcopal reform under Robert Sherburne and its aftermath. In 1975, after three years at the Institute of Historical Research (part of the University of London) where he was assistant editor of the Victoria History of Cheshire, and serving as an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Liverpool, he joined MI5.[3] He was Director General of MI5 from 1996 to 2002.[4]

In April 2006, he was appointed chairman of Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).[5] He retired from that post in 2009.[6]

In 1972, he married Felicity Mary Brayley and had a son and daughter.[7] In September 2002, his son James died at age 28 of acute blood poisoning caused by drug and alcohol toxicity.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Parkside School: celebrating more than 130 years of providing first class education in Surrey". Great British Life. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  2. ^ Davis, Michael (1979). Purple Passages: Parkside 1879–1979. Sidney Press.
  3. ^ The Security Service Archived 2005-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ The Defence of the Realm, by Christopher Andrew, Page 560, Published by Allen Lane, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7139-9885-6
  5. ^ "'British FBI' to have new powers". BBC. 11 January 2006.
  6. ^ MoD Civil Servant appointed Head of SOCA Daily Telegraph, 8 July 2009
  7. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2231. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  8. ^ "MI5 chief's son died of blood poisoning". The Independent. 26 November 2002. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
Government offices
Preceded by Director General of MI5
1996–2002
Succeeded by