David Williams (British legal scholar)

Sir David Williams QC DL
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
In office 1989 to 1996
Chancellor	The Duke of Edinburgh
Preceded by	Michael McCrum
Succeeded by	Alec Broers
Personal details
Born	(1930-10-22)22 October 1930 Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Died	6 September 2009(2009-09-06) (aged 78)
Alma mater	Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Carmarthen Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Sir David Glyndwr Tudor Williams, QC, DL (22 October 1930 – 6 September 2009) was a Welsh barrister and legal scholar. He was president of Wolfson College, Cambridge from 1980 to 1992. He was also vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge: on a part-time basis from 1989 to 1992, and then as the first full-time vice-chancellor from 1992 to 1996.

Early life and education

Williams was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Carmarthen. From 1949 to 1950, he undertook national service with the Royal Air Force. In 1950, he matriculated into Emmanuel College, Cambridge to study history and law. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1954.^[1][2]

Academic career

He was a Harkness Fellow at Berkeley and Harvard between 1956 and 1958.^[3] He moved to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, from Keble College, Oxford in 1967 and was subsequently promoted to reader in public law 1976–1980, before being appointed Rouse Ball Professor of English Law 1983–1992 and elected president of Wolfson College, Cambridge 1980–1992.

In 1989 he was appointed the first full-time vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge and was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics from 1991 to 1994.^[4] In 2007 he was appointed as the chancellor of Swansea University.^[5]

Williams had been awarded honorary degrees by a dozen institutions, including an honorary LLD from the University of Cambridge and a Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Western Ontario.

Williams died from cancer on 6 September 2009 at the age of 78.^[6][7]

In 2016, the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law named its building^[8] and a Chair in Public Law^[9] after him.

References

1. Feldman, David (2013). "Williams, Sir David Glyndwr Tudor (1930–2009), legal scholar and university administrator". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/102379. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. "Williams, Sir David (Glyndwr Tudor)". Who Was Who. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2016. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U39939. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
3. "College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Villanova University" (PDF).
4. "Past Council Members". Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
5. Wolfson College News » Professor Sir David Williams inaugurated as Chancellor of Swansea University
6. "Death of Professor Sir David Williams - Faculty of Law". Archived from the original on 10 September 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
7. "Professor Sir David Williams: legal scholar". The Times. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
8. "Naming of the Law Faculty building | Faculty of Law". www.law.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
9. "Gift in honour of Sir David Williams | Faculty of Law". www.law.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2017.

External links

• Professor David Williams - Daily Telegraph obituary

Academic offices
Preceded by John Morrison	President of Wolfson College, Cambridge 1980–1992	Succeeded by John Tusa
Preceded by Michael McCrum	Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1989–1996	Succeeded by Alec Broers