Timothy Douglas Davie (born 25 April 1967 in Croydon, London) is the current and seventeenth Director-General of the BBC. He succeeded Tony Hall in the role on 1 September 2020. Davie was formerly the chief executive officer of BBC Studios, and is a former Conservative Party politician. He served as acting Director-General of the BBC following George Entwistle's resignation in November 2012 until Lord Hall took over the role permanently in April 2013. During his time as acting director-general he oversaw the investigations into BBC management and conduct following revelations the broadcaster had known about sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile.<ref>BBC Press Release "Incoming BBC Director-General Tony Hall announces changes to BBC’s senior team", 'BBC Press Centre, 14 February 2013</ref> Early career Davie won a scholarship to attend Whitgift School in Croydon, and studied English at Selwyn College, Cambridge, being the first in his family to attend university. He joined Procter & Gamble as a trainee in 1991. Appointed UK marketing manager for PepsiCo in 1993, Davie was subsequently promoted to Vice-President, Marketing, Europe and Sub-Sahara Africa, holding several similar appointments, including in the United States, before taking up the Vice-President for Marketing and Franchise post. Davie stood as a councillor for the Conservative Party in Hammersmith in 1993 and 1994http://londondatastore-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/LBCE_1994-5-5.pdf and was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative party in the 1990s. BBC career Davie joined the BBC as Director of Marketing, Communications and Audiences in April 2005, succeeding Andy Duncan. He was Director-General Mark Thompson's first senior external appointment. In June 2008, it was announced that he was replacing Jenny Abramsky, who served at the BBC for 39 years before leaving to chair the Heritage Lottery Fund. Appointed Director of Audio & Music, he sat on the BBC's Executive Board with overall responsibility for all of the BBC's national radio networks and the corporation's music output across all media. This included BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4; as well as the BBC digital radio stations BBC Asian Network, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 4 Extra (then BBC 7); the three BBC Orchestras based in England; and The Proms. During this time he was involved in abandoned plans to close down Radio 6 Music and the Asian Network. In July 2009 he was on The Guardian's list of the 100 most influential people in the media.