David King (chemist)

Sir David King FRS FRSC FInstP HonFREng
King in 2019
Born	David Anthony King (1939-08-12) 12 August 1939 (age 84)[1] Union of South Africa
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Education	St John's College, Johannesburg[1]
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand (BSc; PhD 1963)
Awards	Rumford Medal (2002) Knight Bachelor (2003) Légion d'Honneur (2009)
Scientific career
Fields	Physical Chemistry Climate Change International Development
Institutions	Foreign and Commonwealth Office Imperial College London University of Oxford University of Cambridge University of East Anglia University of Liverpool
Thesis	A Study Of The Ammonia Synthesis Over Vanadium Nitride, Correlated With The Structure Of The Catalyst (1963)
Website	www.gov.uk/government/people/david-king

Sir David Anthony King FRS FRSC FInstP HonFREng^[2] (born 12 August 1939)^[1] is a South African-born British chemist, academic, and head of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG).

King first taught at Imperial College, London, the University of East Anglia, and was then Brunner Professor of Physical Chemistry (1974–1988) at the University of Liverpool. He held the 1920 Chair of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge from 1988 to 2006, and was Master of Downing College, Cambridge, from 1995 to 2000: he is now emeritus professor. While at Cambridge, he was successively a fellow of St John's College, Downing College, and Queens' College. Moving to the University of Oxford, he was Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment from 2008 to 2012, and a Fellow of University College, Oxford, from 2009 to 2012. He was additionally President of Collegio Carlo Alberto in Turin, Italy (2008–2011), and Chancellor of the University of Liverpool (2010–2013).

Outside of academia, King was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Head of the Government Office for Science from 2000 to 2007. He was then senior scientific adviser to UBS, a Swiss investment bank and financial services company, from 2008 to 2013. From 2013 to 2017, he returned to working with the UK Government as Special Representative for Climate Change to the Foreign Secretary. He was also Chairman of the government's Future Cities Catapult from 2013 to 2016.