Hywel was born in Neath, and brought up in Port Talbot and then in Clydach in the Swansea Valley. He was educated at Pontardawe Grammar School and UCW Aberystwyth (1955-1962) where he graduated with an Honours Degree in French, including a year abroad as a teaching assistant at the Lycee in Loreint. He gained a Diploma of Education and pursued post-graduate research into the life and work of Henri Barbusse. In 1961-62 Hywel was President of the Aberystwyth Students Union, and received a John and Elizabeth Williams Scholarship to study in Europe.
From 1962-1973 Hywel held posts at the then new University of Sussex: Assistant Registrar, Deputy Director of the Centre for Educational Technology and Curriculum Development, and then he served as Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor (Lord Asa Briggs) for research and academic development of the University.
In 1973 Hywel moved with his family to live in Brussels when he was appointed as Head of the Commission’s first ever department for education and youth policies and later promoted as the Commission’s Director for education, training and youth. Following the launch of several EU flagship programmes, notably Erasmus, Comett, Tempus and Petra, for which he played the leading role as the senior Commission official for their design, negotiation and management, he was designated by the Delors Commission as Director of the Commission’s Task Force for human resources, education, training and youth. With responsibility for the oversight of all the EU education programmes, he chaired the EU committees involving representatives of the Member States and was responsible for liaison with the European Committee of Rectors and Vice Chancellors.
Early in 1993 Hywel was appointed to act as Director General of the Directorate General for Employment, Social Policy and Industrial Relations (1993-1998). During this period he had responsibility for the European Social Fund, chaired the European Social Dialogue Committee involving European employers and trade unions, and co-directed the EU’s Peace and Reconciliation Programme in Northern Ireland. He also had special responsibility for the promotion of equal opportunities and social inclusion and for the development of the EU’s policy on behalf of disabled persons. During this period too, he was responsible for the design and launch of several Community Initiatives, in the framework of the EU’s structural funds, namely EQUAL, NOW, ADAPT, and YOUTH START. He served as a member of the group of senior officials in the European Commission which prepared EU Agenda 2000 which set the EU’s first multi-annual programmatic and financial framework for the period until 2006.
On his early retirement from the Commission in 1998, Hywel acted as Special Adviser to George Soros on the philanthropist’s strategy for his Open Society Network of Foundations in Central and Eastern Europe. He then returned to Wales and was appointed as European Adviser to the Secretary of State for Wales (Ron Davies and later Alun Michael). He chaired the All Wales Taskforce set up to prepare the incoming National Assembly of Wales to take on its European responsibilities and was closely involved with the Secretary of State in the negotiation of the EU’s decision to accord Objective 1 status to Wales.
During the period 2000-2010, Hywel served successively as Chair of the European Policy Centre, (EPC) a leading policy think tank in Brussels, and as Director of the European Network of Foundations, which promoted cooperation between European foundations across Europe on a number of issues of international concern, including migration and intergration. He was also co-chair of the European Consortium of Foundations for Disability Rights, Governor of the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam), member of the Ecorys Board (Rotterdam), and was appointed member of the Board of the Federal Trust for Education and Research in London and of the Franco British Council.
Since his return to live in Wales, Hywel was a member of the Board of Cymru Yfory (Tomorrow’s Wales) advocating the reforms necessary to take forward Welsh devolution and to secure the ‘Yes’ vote in the Welsh Referendum. He served as Chair of the Wales Governance Centre of the University of Cardiff (2012-2015)and for the period of 2015-17 was appointed by the Welsh Government to serve as one of 3 EU Funding Ambassadors to Wales, reporting to the Government just before the start of the 2016 EU Referendum. Following the result of this Referendum, Hywel was appointed by the Welsh Government to serve on its European Advisory Group, to advise on the implications of the Brexit vote for Wales.
Hywel has been awarded Doctorates by the Universities of Sussex, Leuven, Brussels, Wales, Ireland and the Open University, and most recently Edinburgh and Mons. He holds Fellowships from the Universities of Aberystwyth, Swansea, Trinity, Glyndwr, Glamorgan, Westminster and the Education Institute of Scotland. He received the award of the Gold Medal from the Republic of Italy for services to education and culture, and also the award for the Outstanding Contribution for International Educational Exchange from the Council of Educational Exchange, Berlin. He was a recipient of the Winston Churchill and Eisenhower Fellowships. He was awarded the CMG by the Queen for services to UK and Europe. Most recently in 2017 Hywel received the International Award for Vision and Leadership from the European Association for International Education (EAIE). In 2019 he was elected a fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
He has published a wide range of articles on education, training, employment and Europe and delivered a number of named lectures, including the Guardian Education Lecture in 1989, the IBM Lecture at the Foundation of Science and Technology in 1990, the BBC Wales Annual Lecture in 1999 and the Annual Lecture of the Institute of Politics of Aberystwyth University in 2016. His publications include Planning the development of universities: a case study of the University of Sussex (UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning, Parish 1971) Co-author Teaching and Learning: an introduction to new methods and resources in higher education (UNESCO and the International Association of Universities, Paris 1979.) Co-author
He is a member of the Gorsedd of Bards of the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales, and served as a Vice President of the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen and as a Trustee of the National Museum of Wales.
Hywel lives with his wife Morwenna in Penarth and has two children, Hannah and Gwilym and their three grandchildren, Zac, Leah and Etienne. Hywel is a passionate Welsh European and loves poetry, rugby and snooker, and travelling extensively in Europe.