The building of the Faculty of Law has become the David Williams Building.
To commemorate the naming of the building in honour of the late Professor Sir David Williams a plaque was unveiled by Lady Williams at a ceremony on 15th October. The Vice-Chancellor, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, presided at the ceremony, which was attended by members of the Williams family, staff and students of the Faculty, and guests including Sir David and Lady Li and representatives of leading law firms.
Professor Sir David Williams, QC, LLD had a distinguished career in the law, in public service, in the University of Cambridge, and in the Faculty of Law. He was an undergraduate, then a Fellow, of Emmanuel College, President of Wolfson College, Chair of the Faculty of Law, Rouse Ball Professor of English Law, and Vice-Chancellor of the University.
In his speech at the ceremony Professor Richard Fentiman, Chair of the Faculty, spoke of the significance of naming the building in honour of Sir David Williams:
"In his career - as a scholar, as a teacher, as a servant of this place, as a public advocate for personal liberty – David Williams embodied the principles which this Faculty represents: a commitment to scholarship and teaching of the highest order; adherence to the principle that scholarship and teaching go hand-in-hand; a commitment to the law in action; a devotion to the rule of law (as a practical precept not an abstraction); and a belief in the essential humanity of the law, and of institutions like this. Nothing could be more fitting than that this building should honour David Williams by bearing his name."