Sir Terence English KBE MA BSc FRCP FRCS was born in South Africa and educated at Hilton College, Natal. Having gained a degree in engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, Sir Terence then studied medicine at Guys Hospital London. A distinguished career in cardiothoracic surgery followed. As Consultant Surgeon at Papworth and Addenbrookes Hospitals he created the UK Cardiac Surgical Register and established the transplant programme at Papworth. He performed Britains first successful heart transplant in 1979, was director of the British Heart Foundation Heart Transplant Research Unit and served as President of the International Society of Heart Transplantation. In 1986 the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of England awarded Sir Terence the Clement Price Thomas prize for distinguished services to surgery. He served as President of the RCS from 1989-92. He is a Fellow of the RCS, the RCS of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians and the American College of Cardiology, holds twelve other Honorary Fellowships, and Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Sussex, Hull, Nantes, and Mahidol in Thailand.

Sir Terence was made Knight Commander of the British Empire in Jan 1991 and served as a member of the Audit Commission between 1993 and 1998. In July 1993 he was elected Master of St Catherines College, Cambridge, which position he held until October 2000. Sir Terence was President of the BMA in 1995-6 and was a Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. He now lives in Oxford where his wife, Lady English (formerly Dr Judith Milne) is Principal of St Hilda's.