View source for Colin McColl

{{Short description|British intelligence officier}}
{{for|the New Zealand director|Colin McColl (director)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Sir]]
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}}
| name                = Colin McColl
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| awards              = [[Order of St Michael and St George|KCMG]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1932|9|6|df=y}}
| nationality         = [[British People|British]]
| occupation          = [[Intelligence officer]], [[Diplomat]]
| alma_mater          = [[Queen's College, Oxford]]
| signature           = 
| office              = Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service
| order               = 11th
| successor           = [[David Spedding]]
| predecessor         = [[Christopher Curwen]]
| term_start          = 1989
| term_end            = 1994
}}
'''Sir Colin Hugh Verel McColl,''' {{post-nominals|size=100%|KCMG}} (born 6 September 1932) was Head of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (MI6) from 1989 to 1994.

==Career==
Educated at [[Shrewsbury School]] and at [[The Queen's College, Oxford]],<ref name=burkes>[http://www.burkespeerage.com/familyhomepage.aspx?FID=0&FN=MCCOLLCOLIN Burkes Peerage and Gentry]</ref> McColl joined the [[Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service|diplomatic service]] in 1950.<ref name=btac>[http://www.btac.us/pressrelease_mccoll.htm British Threat Awareness Council]</ref> He served in [[Laos]], [[Vietnam]], [[Warsaw]] and [[Geneva]]<ref name=btac/> before he was appointed Chief of the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1992-05-07 |title=The Secret's Out: Top British Spy Identified |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/07/world/the-secret-s-out-top-british-spy-identified.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In retirement he was a Director of the [[Scottish American Investment Company]].<ref>[http://www.bailliegifford.org/documents/60489_SAINTS_Annual_Report_1205.pdf Scottish American Investment Company Annual Report 2005]</ref>

In 1996 he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford.<ref name=burkes/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{S-gov}}
{{succession box |
 before=[[Christopher Curwen|Sir Christopher Curwen]]| 
 title=[[Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service|Chief of the SIS]] |
 years=1989–1994|
 after=[[David Spedding|Sir David Spedding]]| 
}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McColl, Colin}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Cold War spies]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Post–Cold War spies]]
[[Category:20th-century spies]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People educated at Shrewsbury School]]
[[Category:Chiefs of the Secret Intelligence Service]]


{{UK-gov-bio-stub}}