David Adamson will be leaving his role at the University of Cambridge in December after seven years to take up a senior post in the Civil Service.

The University’s Director of Estate Management and Building Service (EMBS) is to become Director of Smarter Construction in the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), part of HM Treasury, on secondment.

His brief will be to lead a team charged with improving standards of construction procurement across the public sector.

His appointment follows recommendations made in the recent National Audit Office report ‘Improving Public Services Through Better Construction’, in which the University of Cambridge was singled out for praise for the way it procures construction projects.

OGC Executive Director, Martin Sykes said: “OGC welcomes the experience David Adamson will bring to public sector construction procurement at this time of high activity in the industry.”

Professor Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said: “David Adamson has done an outstanding job for the University. A senior figure in industry, he joined the University during a period of massive renewal and expansion of the physical infrastructure. We greatly appreciate his contributions here, and wish him well in his new role.”

A graduate of King’s College, Cambridge, David Adamson returned to his alma mater in 1998 from Bristol University where he had been Bursar, following a career in the Royal Engineers and a spell as a science advisor in NATO Supreme Command in Belgium.

David is a Board member of CITB-Construction Skills and other Government bodies and is involved in a review of framework/partnering procurement in Higher Education.

He has published papers on welding technology, construction geology and sustainability in building construction. He is co-author of a book on reform in the construction industry over the last ten years, to be published in February.

Currently a Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge, David is a Visiting Professor at the University of Western England.

Michael Bienias, currently Deputy Director, will be Acting Director of University of Cambridge EMBS from December 1 2005.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.