Jon has been the face of Channel 4 News since 1989 when he became the main presenter.

Jon has anchored the programme from wherever major world events occur: from Hong Kong at the time of the handover to China; from Washington during the Clinton impeachment hearings; from Stormont during the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement; and most recently from the West Bank, India, Iran and, at irregular intervals, from Iraq.

His range of international interviewees extends from Nelson Mandela to Arundhati Roy to Tony Blair. He is not just a news presenter - he often does his own reporting on the major stories of the day, drawing on his years of experience as ITN's diplomatic editor and Washington correspondent.

In 2005 he was awarded the Richard Dimbleby BAFTA award for Best Factual Contribution to Television. In February 2006 he was named Journalist of the Year at the Royal Television Society Awards for his reports from New Orleans, Pakistan and from Africa. He also picked up the Home News award along with Gary Gibbon for the Attorney-General Leak.

Famous for his colourful silk ties, Jon now has to co-ordinate the colour of his socks too, since the studio and set were introduced in January 1999.

Jon will chair session 1a - Education and economic development: engaging the new India.