The idea of the Doha Debates was conceived by Tim Sebastian, who has been their chairman since September 2004. Tim Sebastian is well known as the former presenter of the BBC's international flagship interview programme, HARDtalk with Tim Sebastian. For seven years he travelled the world for HARDtalk, interviewing the world's newsmakers and personalities - from presidents, prime ministers and kings to authors, actors and musicians. Tim worked for the BBC for 25 years, starting his career in Poland before becoming the BBC's Europe Correspondent in 1982. Two years later he was posted to Moscow before moving to Washington in 1986. In 1982 Tim was awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Richard Dimbleby Award and was named Television Journalist of the Year by the Royal Television Society. Additionally he has twice won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year Award for his HARDtalk interviews. Born in London in 1952, Tim speaks Russian and German and is the author of eight novels and two non-fiction books. He is a graduate of Oxford University. |
