Iain Lobban, who joined the board of GCHQ in 2001, has been named as its new Director. He will take over from Sir David Pepper at the end of July 2008.
The appointment, confirmed by Foreign Secretary David Miliband and approved by the Prime Minister, comes as Sir David retires after five years as the organisation’s Director. The Foreign Secretary paid tribute to his career-long commitment to transforming GCHQ to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Sir David said that he was delighted by the appointment and paid tribute to his successor: “Iain is a consummate GCHQ professional and an excellent leader. I can think of nobody as well qualified to lead the organisation at this time of exciting but demanding change."
Iain Lobban joined GCHQ in 1983 and has spent most of his career delivering intelligence in support of the UK's national security. He joined the GCHQ Board in 2001 when he led the latter stages of the New Accommodation Project, and took up his current position of Director-General Operations in early 2004. The role gave him responsibility for intelligence production and the development of GCHQ's partnerships with national and international intelligence agencies.
Commenting on his new post, Mr Lobban said: "I feel tremendously privileged to be taking over from David Pepper at the end of July. GCHQ is poised to deliver unprecedented levels of service to help protect the UK, through a combination of cutting edge technology and highly skilled people. "
A graduate of Leeds University specialising in languages, Iain also attended the Ministry of Defence's staff college at Shrivenham, graduating from the Higher Command and Staff course. Married, he lists his leisure interests as football (he is an avid Everton supporter), cricket, photography, travel and music.
In the 2006 New Year Honours List Iain was appointed to the Order of the Companion of the Bath (CB) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the national security of the UK.