A Professor of Economics specialising in international finance, David became Principal of the then University College Worcester in January 2003. In September 2005, the Privy Council approved the University College's application for full University title and David became Worcester's founding Vice Chancellor. In David's first seven years at Worcester, the number of students at the University has grown by more than a third and the University income has tripled to nearly £60m a year. David is the only current University executive head to serve on the 13 strong Board of the Training and Development Agency for Schools, which is responsible for teacher training and all round school workforce development in England. In his capacity as executive head of the University of Worcester David is a member of the Employment, Business and Industrial Policy Committee of Universities UK and serves on the executive committee of GuildHE.