Paul Warwick Thompson FRSA (born 9 August 1959) is rector of the Royal College of Art in London, England.^[1] From January 2024, Thompson will take up appointment as Chair of the British Council.^[2]

Paul Thompson FRSA
Vice-chancellor of the Royal College of Art
Incumbent
Assumed office 2009
Preceded by	Sir Christopher Frayling
Personal details
Born	(1959-08-09) 9 August 1959 (age 64) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Alma mater	University of Bristol University of East Anglia

Thompson was educated at Bryanston School, the University of Bristol (BA) and the University of East Anglia (MA, PhD).^[3]

Thompson worked as a scriptwriter and researcher for the Design Council 1987–88. He then joined the Design Museum as curator of contemporary design and from 1993 to 2001 was its director.^[3]

During 2001–09, Thompson was director of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City, USA. In 2009, he took up his current post at the Royal College of Art.^[1] He is a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and on the board of visitors of the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford. He is a member of the Wellcome Collection Programme Advisory Committee at the Wellcome Trust, London. He is an adjunct professor at Imperial College's Institute for Global Health Innovation. He co-directs the Helix Centre with Professor Lord Ara Darzi.^{[citation needed]} The Helix Centre is a design research centre based in St Mary's Hospital, London.^{[citation needed]}