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 British space programme, civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the Britis ...

Early life

He went to the

Hutton Grammar School Hutton Grammar School is an 11–18 boys voluntary aided, state-funded Church of England comprehensive day school. It is located south west of Preston, Lancashire, in Hutton, England. It provides education for boys from the age of 11 to 16, ...

on ''Liverpool Road'' in

Hutton Hutton may refer to: Places ;Antarctica * Hutton Cliffs, Ross Island * Hutton Mountains ;Australia * Hutton Sandstone Formation ;Canada * Hutton, Alberta, a locality * Hutton, British Columbia, a railway point * Hutton railway station, Brit ...

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, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

. From the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

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

ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...

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 that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

(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 States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, 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