David Frederick Williams (born 21 September 1951) is a former Chief Executive of the

UK Space Agency The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the British National Space Centre ...

Early life

He went to the

Hutton Grammar School Hutton Grammar School is a voluntary aided Church of England day school for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form. It is located south west of Preston, Lancashire, in Hutton, England. It provides education for boys from the age of 11 to 16, an ...

on ''Liverpool Road'' in Hutton,

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

. From the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

he gained a BSc in 1974 and a PhD in 1978.

Career

He worked for the NERC from 1982 to 1989. From 1989, he worked for the

BNSC The British National Space Centre (BNSC) was an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, organised in 1985, that coordinated civil space activities for the United Kingdom. It was replaced on 1 April 2010 by the United Kingdom Space Age ...

. He became Director General of the BNSC on 1 May 2006. He became Acting Chief Executive, UK Space Agency & Chairman of the

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

Council. On 23 March 2010, the new UK Space Agency was launched to replace the British National Space Centre and to bring all UK civil space activities under one single management. He will steer the ESA Council as it prepares for the next meeting of ESA's Ministers in 2012. On 3 August 2012, the Australian

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

(CSIRO) announced that Dr Williams had been appointed to the role of CSIRO Group Executive, Information Sciences, based in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia.

Personal life

In 1985 he married Jeannie Rickards. They have a son and two daughters.

External links

BNSC

RAeS

References

1951 births Scientists from Preston, Lancashire Alumni of the University of Reading Living people People educated at Hutton Grammar School {{UK-gov-bio-stub