2005 Media Releases
October 04, 2005
Science at the Heart of Government: UK Chief Scientific Adviser delivers La Trobe University Science Lecture
Sir David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to the British Government – who is well-known for his warnings about the environmental risks of global warming – will deliver this year’s La Trobe University Science Lecture.
The lecture will be held on Tuesday, 11 October, at 5.30pm, in the West Lecture Theatre 2, Health Sciences Complex, on the University’s main Melbourne campus at Bundoora, see map reference E4.
The title of his lecture will be 'Science at the Heart of Government'. The free public lecture is part of a series presented by leading international scientists to celebrate the excitement and wonder of science.
Sir David, who also heads the UK Office of Science and Technology, advises Prime Minister Tony Blair directly on scientific issues. He chaired Britain’s Foot and Mouth Disease Science Panel in 2001 and Genetic Modification Science Review Panel in 2003.
As Chief Scientific Adviser, he has given a number of high-profile lectures related to science in government. In 2002 he delivered the controversial Zuckerman Lecture on The Science of Climate change: Adapt, Mitigate or Ignore? at The Royal Society. Last year he published another, The Scientific Impact of Nations, in the leading scientific journal, 'Nature'.
Sir David also chairs other committees including the Science and Engineering Base Coordinating Committee, the Global Science and Innovation Forum, and the High Level Energy Group. He serves on various Cabinet sub-committees and also co-chairs Britain’s Council for Science and Technology. He was also heavily involved in producing the UK's ten-year Science and Innovation Framework, 2004-2014, and has published more than 420 papers in scientific journals,
Born in South Africa in 1939, after an early career at the University of Witwatersrand, Imperial College and the University of East Anglia, he became Brunner Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Liverpool in 1974. In 1988 he was appointed 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge and subsequently became Master of Downing College (1995-2000), and Head of the University Chemistry Department (1993-2000). He retains his professorial post in chemistry at Cambridge University.
Sir David was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991, Foreign Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002, and a Knight Bachelor in 2003. His distinguished service to science will also be recognised with the award of an Honorary Doctorate from La Trobe University, to presented at the beginning of the lecture on 11 October.
Tuesday, 4 October 2005 Science at the Heart of Government: UK Chief Scientific Adviser delivers La Trobe University Science Lecture