Paul Schreier was appointed Wellcome’s Interim Chief Executive Officer in February 2023. He joined the Wellcome Trust as Chief Operating Officer in 2019, responsible for Wellcome’s internal and international operations. He is also a member of the investment committee that oversees Wellcome’s investments’ activities.

Paul was born in Australia and came to the UK for university, taking his BA, Master’s and PhD degrees in engineering at Cambridge before joining the Royal Navy, subsequently serving as a navigator and fighter controller. After commanding a ship, he left to join McKinsey & Company’s London office, where he became a partner before moving to Kuala Lumpur. In 2010, he was appointed to the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, becoming deputy secretary with responsibility for economic policy and strategy.

Later, he served as deputy vice-chancellor and chief operating officer at Macquarie University in Sydney, before joining Hakluyt, a professional services firm, in 2016 as chief executive.

He is a member of the Council of the National Army Museum in London, and is on the board of the Francis Crick Institute in London, and the Sanger Institute near Cambridge.