Biography
David Wilkinson has a PhD in Theoretical Physics, is a chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.
David joined the European Commission in 1995 as JRC Director of the Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety. In 2002, he moved to Brussels as Director of Science Strategy, responsible for the planning and coordination of scientific programmes across the JRC Institutes. Amongst other tasks, he initiated the setting up of a Crisis Response System to allow JRC’s scientific capability to be applied within hours in support of crises. In 2004, he moved back to Ispra as Site Director, responsible for all aspects of the running of the site.
In 2009, David was appointed Director of Scientific Policy and Stakeholders Relations, since renamed as Policy Support Coordination. Based in Brussels, he was involved in refocusing the JRC to respond better to the key political priorities of the European Commission. This is an important milestone in the development of the JRC as it aligns the organisation with the Europe 2020 strategy and reinforces the role of the JRC as the Commission's in-house science service.
In 2013, the JRC was chosen to coordinate the EU's participation to EXPO Milano 2015, with David leading the coordination as Commissioner General.
As of April 2015, David is Director of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability in Ispra, Italy.
