David Isaac,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

is a British

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and Provost of

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, where he took office in July 2021. He was previously a partner at Pinsent Masons. He was appointed as the chair of the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

in 2016, serving in that capacity until August 2020. He is also chair of the Court of Governors at

University of the Arts London University of the Arts London is a collegiate university in London, England, specialising in arts, design, fashion and the performing arts. It is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea Coll ...

(2018–present). He was previously chair of

Stonewall Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to: * Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction * Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics * Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...

from 2003 to 2012. He was a director of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund (2005–2014), the Big Lottery Fund (2014–2018)
Black Mountains College
(2019–20) and a trustee of

14-18 NOW ''14-18'' (also known as ''Over There, 1914-18'') is a 1963 French documentary film about World War I, directed by Jean Aurel. It was nominated for an Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic a ...

(2016–2019). Isaac was appointed a CBE in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to equality and diversity and was ranked 36th in the OUTstanding top 100 LGBT executives in October 2018.

Early life

Isaac is Jewish and attended King Henry VIII Grammar School in Abergavenny. He went on to study law at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

and socio-legal studies at

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and ...

. He attended the

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

in Guildford to pass the Solicitors Final Examination (1979–80).

Pinsent Masons

Isaac was a partner at Pinsent Masons law firm from 2000 to 2021. He was Head of the firm's advanced manufacturing and technology sector from 2014 – 2019 and Chair of the Pinsent Masons' Diversity and Inclusion group.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Isaac was appointed as Chair of the

in 2016. He said that the Commission would use its legal powers more, do more for disability rights and make sure that human rights were protected during Brexit. His tenure came to an end in August 2020, and his initial replacement was interim chair Caroline Waters (previously deputy chair). In 2021 Isaac claimed that the

was "being undermined by political pressure" by the

Second Johnson ministry The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election, in which the Conservative Party w ...

Stonewall

During his time as chair of Stonewall, the charity lobbied to secure legislative change, such as the abolition of

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

and the introduction of Civil Partnerships.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac, David Provosts of Worcester College, Oxford Alumni of Wolfson College, Oxford Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at King Henry VIII School, Abergavenny Alumni of The University of Law 21st-century British lawyers People associated with the University of the Arts London LGBT lawyers LGBT businesspeople from the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century LGBT people