David John Richardson (born August 1964) is a British academic who was formerly the

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

. As a result of the financial crisis that engulfed the university in early 2023, under his management, he resigned from the position on 27 February 2023, effective immediately, with Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost Christine Bovis-Cnossen taking over as acting Vice-Chancellor.

Biography

Richardson was born in

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around ...

near

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. He was educated at the

University of Keele Keele University is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted university status by Royal Charter as ...

(BSc, Biochemistry) and the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

(PhD, 1988), and undertook post-doctoral research at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 1988 to 1991. Richardson joined the

as a lecturer in 1991, and became a Professor in 2001. His research group in UEA's School of Biological Sciences is involved in investigating bacteria. In 1999, he was awarded the

Society for General Microbiology The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...

Fleming Medal, and is a recipient of the

Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award The Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship, known as the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award until 2020, is a 5 years fellowship awarded by the Royal Society since 2000. The scheme is described by the Royal Society as providing ''long-term flexib ...

. He has an

h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with success indicators such as winning t ...

of 83. David Richardson was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the

in 2012 before becoming Vice-Chancellor in September 2014. Other positions he has held at the university include Dean of the Faculty of Science and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Enterprise and Engagement. During his time as Vice Chancellor Professor Richardson has worked on a

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

taskforce focused on stamping out harassment on campus, and was particularly vocal in promoting the Higher Education case for the UK remaining in the EU in the 2016 EU Referendum. Richardson's other roles include chair of the

Norwich Research Park Norwich Research Park (NRP) is a science park, science research park located to the southwest of Norwich in East Anglia close to the A11 road (England), A11 and the A47 road, A47 roads. Set in a area of parkland, it is one of five Biotechnolog ...

board and President of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association. He is a Non-Executive Director of the

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is a large National Health Service (NHS) academic teaching hospital in the Norwich Research Park on the western outskirts of Norwich, England. The university hospital replaced the former Norf ...

Board of Directors.

Personal life

Richardson is married with two children in their twenties. His interests include following the

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

and

Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Since the formation of the club in 1881 ...

football teams.

References

External links

Vice-Chancellor – University of East Anglia
1964 births Living people Alumni of Keele University Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of East Anglia Vice-chancellors of the University of East Anglia British biochemists People from Whitley Bay Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders {{England-academic-administrator-stub