British zoologist, businessman,
and scientific administrator.
Brother of the zoologist Miriam Rothschild (1908- ),
Rothschild studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and embarked on an academic
career, becoming a fellow of Trinity College (1935-39). He succeeded to
the barony on the death of his uncle in 1937. Distinguished service in
counter-sabotage activities during World War II earned him the George
Medal. He served as chairman of the Agricultural Research Council (1948-58),
stressing the need for academic research to be free of narrowly defined
objectives. He was appointed assistant director of research in the zoology
department at Cambridge (1950-70), where his own research focused on sperm
locomotion and how fertilization of the egg is achieved. He wrote Fertilization
(1956) and A Classification of Living Animals (1961). In 1959 he
joined the Shell Oil Company as a part-time advisor, becoming chairman
of Shell Research Ltd (1963-70). In 1971 he was appointed by the Heath
government to be the first director-general of the Central Policy Review
Staff - the so-called 'think tank' - with the aim of examining government
policies in a broader and longer-term context than hitherto. It was seen
as a controversial appointment in view of Rothschild's former allegiance
to the Labour Party in the House of Lords. He also served on other government
committees, notably as chairman of the Royal Commission on Gambling (1976-78),
and was also chairman of Rothschilds Continuation and a director of the
family merchant bank, N. M. Rothschild and Sons. |