CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

David Williams (space administrator)

Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ5241155
Source-derived summary

David Frederick Williams (born 21 September 1951) is a former chief executive of the UK Space Agency.

Early life

He went to the Hutton Grammar School on Liverpool Road in Hutton, Preston, Lancashire. From the University of Reading he gained a BSc in 1974 and a PhD in 1978.

Career

He worked for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) from 1982 to 1989. From 1989, he worked for the British National Space Centre (BNSC). He became director general of the BNSC on 1 May 2006.

He became acting chief executive, UK Space Agency and chairman of the European Space Agency (ESA) Council. On 23 March 2010, the new UK Space Agency was launched to replace the BNSC and to bring all UK civil space activities under one single management. He will steer the ESA Council as it prepares for the next meeting of ESA's Ministers in 2012.

On 3 August 2012, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) announced that Williams had been appointed to the role of CSIRO group executive, Information Sciences, based in Sydney, Australia.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “David Williams (space administrator)” as chief Executive of the UK Space Agency. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around David, Williams and space.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1951, 1974, 1978, 1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1951-09-21. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with David, Williams and space providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “David Williams (space administrator)”, the useful work is to connect “chief Executive of the UK Space Agency” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5241155. VIAF identifies the subject as 232266929. The Library of Congress control number is n2012013146. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1951, 1974, 1978 and 1982.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “David Williams (space administrator)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow David Williams (space administrator) primary sources, David Williams (space administrator) archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Williams (space administrator)”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from David Williams (space administrator)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.