Michael Young : Social Entrepreneur

Michael Young is one of the key figures in British 20th-century history. Focusing on family, community, and social change, he has cascaded ideas, in the process coining new words, like "meritocracy." He has also initiated or played a major role in creating new and well-known organizations, including the Consumers' Association and the Open University. In 1945 he drafted the Labour Party's successful election manifestoLet us Face the Future; in 1965 he was the first Chairman of the new Social Science Research Council.

Lord Asa Briggs is former Professor of History, Leeds and University of Sussex, and former Provost of Worcester College, Oxford.