David Cheesman

I was born in India, brought up in Ghana, Nigeria, Jersey and Turkey and I have strong links with Bangladesh, my wife’s country of origin. My first job was as a Lecturer at the University of Constantine in Algeria, then I went on to a PhD in South Asian history from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. After studying history, I decided I preferred to do things rather than write about them, so I took up several posts in the UK government. I started in the Lord Chancellor’s Department, then went on to urban regeneration, social housing and the regulation of financial services. I have published academic articles and a book on the economic and social history of Sindh in Pakistan, as well as papers about decolonisation in Africa, community cohesion in the UK, and Islam and secularism in Britain and France. I used to be an external examiner and Visiting Professor at Sheffield Hallam University. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Statistical Society, and a member of the American Statistical Association.

Since retiring, I have become a policy advisor of the regulation of UK financial services and a Director of Equality in Diversity, an independent research, management and training consultancy, I am a board member and former chair of Squared Housing Association and a founder board member of the United Nations Association – Luton Branch.

The circuit-break of Covid-19 lockdown has revived my old interest in writing. I have also developed a passion for South Korean drama, which is another – and equally inspirational – matter altogether.