Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1929-11-11)11 November 1929 |
| Died | 8 June 2024(2024-06-08) (aged 94) |
| Education | Eton College andWorcester College, Oxford |
| Occupations | businessman, barrister |
| Known for | Chancellor of theUniversity of Buckingham, Chairman ofCanary Wharf Group, Vice-Chairman ofKleinwort Benson, Deputy Chairman ofBarclays Bank |
| Awards | Knight Bachelor (1985) |
Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb (11 November 1929 – 8 June 2024) was a Chancellor of theUniversity of Buckingham and Chairman ofCanary Wharf Group. He was a vice-chairman ofKleinwort Benson Ltd, from 1976 to 1985, and a deputy chairman ofBarclays Bank between 1985 and 1993.
Jacomb was born on 11 November 1929,[1] and was educated atEton College andWorcester College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar atInner Temple in 1955 and practised as abarrister until 1968 before embarking upon a successful career in business. In 1985, he was appointedKnight Bachelor byHM The Queen.
In 1986, he describedinsider trading as a "victimless crime."[2]
In 1998, he was appointed the third Chancellor of the University of Buckingham in succession toBaroness Thatcher, who in turn succeededLord Hailsham of St Marylebone. He was installed in 1999. According to the University of Buckingham, which is one of the two British private universities, "He [Jacomb] is a strong believer in the need for universities to be independent of the government".[3] He has written that if universities are "to nurture genuinely free and creative academic research" and "be the guardians of liberty which a free society needs" they must be independent of government funding.[4]
Jacomb wrote that theUniversity of Oxford should become private in order to avoid an authoritarian government imposing restrictions on admissions. Further, the university's academics will only be able to challenge prevailing opinion if they are independent of government funding. Dependence on government funding, he argued, has had disastrous effects on the higher education sector in continental Europe.[5] Jacomb retired from the chancellorship in March 2010. He was succeeded byLord Tanlaw.[citation needed]
Jacomb died on 8 June 2024, at the age of 94.[6]