Jeremy Paxman is an award-winning journalist, author and television presenter.  He has worked for the BBC since 1977 and is the presenter of Newsnight and University Challenge.  

Over the years, he has presented documentaries on various subjects including Victorian art and the poet Wilfred Owen.

Jeremy Paxman was born in Yorkshire in 1950, educated at Malvern College in Worcestershire and received his degree (in English) from St Catharine's College, Cambridge.

For three years in the mid-seventies, Jeremy was based in Northern Ireland, where he covered the troubles and unrest. In 1977, he joined the Tonight programme, for which he was a roving reporter, followed by five years working in a similar role on Panorama, where assignments frequently took him to Africa, the Americas and the Middle East.

In 1989, he joined Newsnight as an anchor and for several years, also presented Start The Week on BBC Radio Four. 

The current chairman of University Challenge, Jeremy took over the reins from Bamber Gascoyne in 1994. 

On a journalistic front, he has written widely for newspapers and magazines.

As an author his books include; A Life In Questions, Great Britain’s Great War, A Higher Form of Killing (with Robert Harris), Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey; Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain?; Fish, Fishing and the Meaning of Life; and the best-sellers The English: A Portrait of A People; The Political Animal and On Royalty. His book, Empire: What Ruling The World Did to the British, was accompanied by a documentary screened on BBC1

His charitable interests include homelessness, mental health and education. In his spare time, he enjoys fly-fishing.