About Matt Ridley
Matthew White Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, commonly known as Matt Ridley, is a British science writer, journalist and businessman. He is known for his writings on science, the environment and economics, and has been a regular contributor to The Times newspaper. Ridley was chairman of the UK bank Northern Rock from 2004 to 2007, during which period it experienced the first run on a British bank in 130 years. He resigned, and the bank was bailed out by the UK government; this led to its nationalisation. Ridley joined The Economist in 1984, first working as a science editor until 1987, then as Washington, D.C., correspondent from 1987 to 1989 and as American editor from 1990 to 1992. He then pursued doctoral research on the mating system of the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), supervised by Chris Perrins, and was awarded a DPhil in zoology in 1983.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.