John Scott Davidson (born 24 September 1954) is a British legal scholar and

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

. He has served as

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 Newman University Birmingham since 1 January 2017.

Early life and education

Davidson was born on 24 September 1954, in

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 ...

. His early education took place at George Stephenson County Grammar School in Westmoor, which was later renamed George Stephenson High School and relocated to Killingworth. Davidson went on to study law at

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

. He graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, later converted into a

MA (Cantab) In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts (BAs) are promoted to the rank of Master of Arts (MA), typically upon application after three or four years after graduation. No further examination or study is required for ...

in 1979, as is tradition at Cambridge. The

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, New Zealand, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) in 2009.

Career

Davidson began his academic career as a lecturer in law at the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

in 1979. From 1982 to 1989 he served concurrently as Warden of Needler Hall (University of Hull). In 1998, Davidson was appointed senior lecturer in law at the

, New Zealand, becoming associate professor in 1995. From 2001 to 2003 Davidson held the posts of professor of law, head of the law school and warden of Morgan Hall concurrently at the University of Hull. He returned to New Zealand in 2003 as dean of the law school at the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

and then moved to the University of Canterbury in 2004 to become pro-vice-chancellor. In 2009, Davidson was appointed pro-vice-chancellor and then in 2010 deputy vice-chancellor at the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

in the UK. In January 2017, he was appointed as vice-chancellor of Birmingham Newman University.

Other positions

Davidson has held a number of positions, including: chair of Lincolnshire Educational Trust (2012–2016); chair of University Academy Holbeach Governing Body (2012–2016); member of governing body, Holbeach Primary Academy (2014–2016); Member of board of corporation, member of audit committee, vice-chair of standards committee, Lincoln College (2012–2013); chair of council, Cambridge Access Validating Agency (CAVA), chair of CAVA remuneration committee (2011–2016), former chair and member of CAVA executive board (2011–2016); member of University of Lincoln Students’ Union Trust Board (2011–present); board member of Lincoln Business Improvement Group (2009–2012); board member, AimHigher Board for Lincolnshire and Rutland (2009–2011); trustee of Lincoln Citizens Advice Bureau (2013–2016); board member of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (2007–2009); board member of New Zealand Council of Legal Education (2004–2009); New Zealand representative Maritime Cooperation Working Group of the Council for Security and Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP) (1996–2001). He has served on the editorial board of the ''International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law'', the ''New Zealand Yearbook of International Law'', and the ''New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law''.

Selected works

Publications he has co-authored in the broad field of public international law, particularly

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and the

law of the sea Law of the sea (or ocean law) is a body of international law governing the rights and duties of State (polity), states in Ocean, maritime environments. It concerns matters such as navigational rights, sea mineral claims, and coastal waters juris ...

. *''Defining Civil and Political Rights: The Jurisprudence of the United Nations Human Rights Committee'' (2004, Ashgate); *''Contemporary Issues in International Law: A Collection of the Josephine Onoh Memorial Lectures'' (2002, Kluwer); *''Legal Research and Writing in New Zealand'' (2000, Butterworths, 1st edition) - (2004, 2nd and 3rd editions); *''New Zealand Handbook on International Human Rights'' (1998, Ministry of Foreign Affairs); *''The Inter-American Human Rights System'' (1997, Open University Press) He has published over 60 articles and notes on various topics and was a book reviewer for the

Christchurch Press ''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One ...

from 1995 to 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Scott Educators from Newcastle upon Tyne 1954 births Living people Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Hull Academic staff of the University of Canterbury British expatriate academics British expatriates in New Zealand University of Canterbury Faculty of Law alumni People associated with Birmingham Newman University