David Melville

Sir David Melville, (born 4 April 1944) is a British physicist, academic, academic administrator, and public servant. He was Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University from 1991 to 1996, Chief executive of the Further Education Funding Council for England from 1996 to 2001, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent from 2001 to 2007. Early life and education Melville was born on 4 April 1944 in Gateshead, Durham, England. He was educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, then an all-boys grammar school in Clitheroe, Lancashire. He studied physics at the University of Sheffield, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1965; he was the first of his family to attend university. Having been awarded a NASA scholarship, he studied for a year at Columbia University in New York City, United States, and graduated with a graduate diploma in space physics. During that year he worked on the Apollo programme of human spaceflight and the preparation of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. He then returned to the University of Sheffield to undertake postgraduate research in physics. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1970. Career From 1968 to 1984, Melville was a lecturer and then senior lecturer in physics at the University of Southampton. He then moved to Lancashire Polytechnic where he had been appointed Professor of Physics and head of its School of Physics and Astronomy. From 1986 to 1991, he served as assistant director and then vice-rector of the polytechnic. In 1991, Melville moved to Middlesex Polytechnic having been appointed its director. He then oversaw its transition from a polytechnic to a university, and he became the first vice-chancellor of Middlesex University in 1992. During his time in charge, it expanded from 9,000 to 20,000 students.