After his degrees at UMIST and the University of Sussex, and periods of postdoctoral research in Montpellier and Southampton, David joined the staff of the Biochemistry Group within the School of Biological Sciences in 1976, where he lectured in Protein Structure and Immunology. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1985, and gained a Readership in 1998.
He was a gifted and conscientious teacher, much appreciated by all his students. Professor Michael Danson writes: ‘I met him when I joined the staff in 1979, and we began a research collaboration in 1981 that lasted 30 years until his retirement in 2011. Together we worked on the biochemistry of micro-organisms that live under extreme conditions. We jointly published 89 peer-reviewed papers. We co-founded and ran the Centre for Extremophile Research, guided by David’s industrial insight and connections and his desire to exploit the properties of these enzymes in biotechnological applications.
‘David was a gentle and compassionate colleague who gave unselfishly of his time and expertise and who always gave willingly of his time for his graduate students, tutees and project students. He was a wonderful friend and colleague, and I will miss his wisdom and friendship greatly.’
David is survived by his wife, Angela, daughter and son, and 6 grandchildren. The funeral will be private, and a memorial event is expected to be announced in due course.