Wendy Thomson

Wendy Thomson CBE (born 1953/1954) is a Canadian-born public administrator and social policy researcher and advisor who has worked in both Canada and the UK. She was the managing director of Norfolk County Council from August 2014 until December 2018. She was appointed the next Vice Chancellor of the University of London in October 2018 and took up the post on 1 July 2019.

Thomson was born in Montreal, Canada, where she worked for various charities and other organisations involved in social services, including Centraide. She moved to the UK in the 1980s, where she worked for the Greater London Authority before becoming assistant chief executive of Islington London Borough Council. In 1993, she was appointed chief executive of the charity Turning Point, then returned to local government as chief executive of Newham London Borough Council before becoming Director of the Audit Commission.

She served as the head of the Office of Public Service Reform in the Cabinet Office during Tony Blair's second government, for which she was made a CBE in the 2005 New Year Honours. She was appointed professor of social policy and director of the School of Social Work at McGill University in Montreal in June 2005.