Martin Jacomb

Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb (born 11 November 1929) is a former Chancellor of the University of Buckingham and Chairman of Canary Wharf Group. He was a vice-chairman, Kleinwort Benson Ltd, from 1976 to 1985, and a deputy chairman of Barclays Bank between 1985 and 1993. Education and career Jacomb was educated at Eton College and Worcester College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1955 and practised as a barrister until 1968 before embarking upon a successful career in business. In 1985, he was appointed Knight Bachelor by HM The Queen. In 1986, he described insider trading as a "victimless crime." In 1998, he was appointed the third Chancellor of the University of Buckingham in succession to Baroness Thatcher, who in turn succeeded Lord 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". 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.