Matthew Weait (born 24 August 1963) is director of the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, fellow of

Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...

and professor of law and society at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Biography

Weait studied law and criminology at

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

, University of Cambridge (1982–86) and completed his doctoral research at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(1995). He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1999. In 2009 he was awarded an MA in creative writing from Birkbeck College. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of the

Royal Society for Public Health Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) is an independent, multi-disciplinary charity dedicated to the improvement of the public's health. RSPH helps inform policy and practice, working to educate, empower and support communities and individuals ...

and a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. Weait was lecturer at Birkbeck College (1992–1999),

the Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study o ...

(2000–2004) and

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

(2004–07). He was appointed senior lecturer in law and legal studies at Birkbeck in 2007 and was promoted to reader in 2009. He was professor of law and policy at Birkbeck, and pro-vice-master (academic and community partnerships) from 2011 to 2015. From 2020 to 2022 he was deputy vice-chancellor at the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

. Between 2002 and 2003 he was parliamentary research officer to

Lord Lester of Herne Hill Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, QC (3 July 1936 – 8 August 2020) was a British barrister and member of the House of Lords. He was at different times a member of the Labour Party, Social Democratic Party and the Liberal D ...

at the Odysseus Trust. Weait's research centres on the impact of law on people living with HIV and AIDS, and he has published in this area. His monograph ''Intimacy and Responsibility: the Criminalisation of HIV Transmission'' was published in 2007. He was a member of the Technical Advisory Group for the Global Commission on HIV and the Law and the Joint Academic Stage Board of the

Solicitors Regulation Authority The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. It is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of more than 125,000 solicitors and other authorised individuals at more than 11,000 ...

and the

Bar Standards Board The Bar Standards Board regulates barristers in England and Wales for the public interest. It is responsible for: * Setting standards of conduct for barristers and authorising barristers to practise; * Monitoring the service provided by barrist ...

. Weait's short stories have been published in the ''Fish Anthology'' and the ''Institute Review'', and his story "the days he had seen" was shortlisted for the 2009 Bridport Prize.2009 Bridport Prize
retrieved 2 August 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weait, Matthew 1963 births Living people British writers British legal scholars Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Members of the Middle Temple British barristers