Michael Beasley

Noel Michael Roy Beasley (born 1968) is a British Church of England bishop and epidemiologist. Since June 2022, he has been the Bishop of Bath and Wells; he was enthroned and started active ministry in that role in November 2022. From May 2015 to June 2022, he was Bishop of Hertford, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of St Albans. From 2003 to 2010, he worked at Westcott House, Cambridge, an Anglican theological college, first as chaplain and then as a tutor and the college's vice-principal. During this time, he was also an academic of Imperial College London. From 2010 to 2015, he was Director of Mission for the Diocese of Oxford. Early life and education Beasley was born in 1968, and brought up in rural Staffordshire. From 1983 to 1987, he was educated at Sir Graham Balfour School, a state school in Stafford, Staffordshire. He studied at Imperial College London and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. He then undertook post-graduate study at Oriel College, Oxford, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1996. He later became an epidemiologist specialising in child infectious diseases in low-income countries. After completing his doctorate, Beasley studied theology at St John's College, Durham. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1998. He then trained for the priesthood at Cranmer Hall, the theological college attached to St John's College, which he completed in 1999. Until 2010, he combined scientific work half time with work as a missioner and theology teacher. Ordained ministry Beasley was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1999 and as a priest in 2000. From 1999 to 2003, he served as an assistant curate at St Nicholas Church, Newport, Shropshire, in the Diocese of Lichfield.