Rate My Professor David Latchman

David Seymour Latchman CBE is a British geneticist and university administrator. Born in 1956, he obtained a BA and MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, followed by a DSc from the University of London. He has held academic positions at University College London since the 1980s, including roles in the medical molecular biology unit and at Middlesex School of Medicine. He served as professor of molecular pathology and director of the Windeyer Institute of Medical Science at UCL, and as dean of the Institute for Child Health from 1999 to 2002. Since 1999 he has been professor of genetics at UCL and is now emeritus professor of human genetics.

Latchman was Master and then Vice-Chancellor of Birkbeck, University of London from 2003 to 2023. He subsequently served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of London from 2023 and became Acting Vice-Chancellor in 2025. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 for services to higher education and holds fellowships including FRCPath and FRSA. He is an author and philanthropist, serving as chair of the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation. Latchman has contributed to committees such as the National DNA Database Ethics Group and has advocated for part-time higher education and access for adult learners.