London, England, United Kingdom
As Chief Global Affairs Officer, Phil Baty leads on government partnerships and external engagement at Times Higher Education (THE), the data, insights and events partner to universities and governments worldwide - and winner of The King’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. In a dual role also as THE's Chief Operations Officer, Phil has Board-level responsibility for THE's commercial strategy, supporting product development and global market strategy. Phil is also Director General of the Education World Forum, the largest gathering of education and skills ministers in the world and he founded the world's largest university membership network - the THE Sustainability Impact Network, which has more than 1,800 members from 121 countries, dedicated to sustainable development. A sought-after keynote speaker, media commentator and consultant, Phil was described as "one of the most influential voices in global higher education" who has "transformed the landscape of university performance and strategy" in his citation for the Global Academic Excellence Award, conferred by Amity University in February 2025. Phil was ranked 33rd in the list of the "Top 200 LinkedIn Voices in Education Worldwide" by agency Favikon in 2025. “Phil sits at the crossroads of data, policy, and global leadership. His voice helps institutions steer, not drift,” says Favikon. With almost 30 years in the sector, Phil: developed the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and its derivative analyses (as rankings editor for over a decade between 2008 and 2020); he created the THE World Academic Summit and oversaw its expansion into the world’s preeminent series of university leadership and policy events; and he led the team that developed and launched the Global Sustainable Development Congress. Phil also had significant roles in helping to develop many of THE's most successful commercial activities, from the data and analytics work spun-out of the world university rankings series, to consultancy and most recently, government partnerships. Times Higher Education won two prestigious "Vision 2023" awards from the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) in November 2023 - the national award for medium size companies as well as the Vision 2023 award in the regional category for London and the South East. Times Higher Education is home to Inside Higher Ed, Poets & Quants, BMI, DataHE and the Education World Forum.
Phil Baty leads on government partnerships and global affairs at Times Higher Education, the trusted data, insights and consultancy partner to universities, corporates and governments worldwide. He is also Director General of the Education World Forum, the largest gathering of education and skills ministers in the world. Phil was described as "one of the most influential voices in global higher education" who has "transformed the landscape of university performance and strategy" in his citation for the Global Academic Excellence Award, conferred by Amity University in February 2025. With over 25 years in the sector, Phil: developed the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and its derivative analyses (as rankings editor for over a decade between 2008 and 2019); he created the THE World Academic Summit and oversaw its expansion into the world’s preeminent series of university leadership and policy events; and he led the team that developed and launched the Global Sustainable Development Congress and the sector-leading “Digital Universities” international events series. Phil is also an award-winning journalist, a sought-after keynote speaker, media commentator and consultant.
Phil Baty is a leading international authority on university performance and strategy, with over two decades of experience in global higher education, including a decade as Editor of the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and its derivative analyses. He is an award-winning journalist, a sought-after speaker and commentator and is the creator of the THE World Academic Summit. As Chief Knowledge Officer at THE (Times Higher Education), the international platform for university insights, connections and recruitment, Phil oversaw the editorial development, interpretation and analysis of all global rankings, and is also responsible for corporate communications and the market-leading THE World Summit Series of international leadership events. Phil was part of the senior leadership team when THE was carved out from Tes Global to become an independent entity and was acquired by Inflexion Private Equity in February 2019
Phil has been with Times Higher Education since 1996, as reporter, chief reporter, deputy news editor and news editor. In 2010 he received the Ted Wragg Award for Sustained Contribution to Education Journalism, part of the Education Journalist of the Year Awards, run by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. In 2007 he was a runner-up for the annual Paul Foot Award for Campaigning Journalism, run by The Guardian newspaper and Private Eye magazine. In 2011, Times Higher Education was named Weekly Magazine of the Year and Media Brand of the Year (business category) by the Professional Publishers' Association.