Dr Paddy Walker

Dr Paddy Walker is Managing Director of the Leon group, a fifth-generation family office. A graduate of Durham University and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards), he holds an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He has a further master’s from the University of Buckingham's School of Modern War Studies. Dr Walker has a PhD from Buckingham’s School of Humanities in the field of autonomous weapons and challenges to their deployment.

He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Humanities Research Institute and an Associate at the Imperial War Museum’s Institute for the Public Understanding of War and Conflict. He also sits on the Development Board of the Museum. His recent book, ‘War's Changed Landscape? A Primer on Conflict’s Forms and Norms’ was co-authored with RUSI's Professor Peter Roberts. A companion book, ‘War Without Oversight: Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield’, also published by Howgate, follows in 2024.

Formally Co-chair of the London Committee of NGO Human Rights Watch, he is a director of Article 36, a charity focused on reducing collateral harm to civilians from weapon systems. A previous chair of the UK's Institute of Family Business Family Office Forum, Dr Walker is a member of Leon's philanthropy Council. He is also a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the King’s official bodyguard in Scotland