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Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb (11 November 1929 – 8 June 2024) was a Chancellor of the University of Buckingham and Chairman of Canary Wharf Group. He was a vice-chairman of Kleinwort Benson Ltd, from 1976 to 1985, and a deputy chairman of Barclays Bank between 1985 and 1993.

Life and career

Jacomb was born on 11 November 1929, and 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 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.

Jacomb wrote that the University 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. Jacomb retired from the chancellorship in March 2010. He was succeeded by Lord Tanlaw.

Jacomb died on 8 June 2024, at the age of 94.

Articles by Martin Jacomb

• List of articles in The Spectator
• List of articles in The Financial Times

References

1. Debrett's People of Today (2007)
2. Paul Murphy."Market insight: Despite FSA rhetoric market abuse is rampant", Financial Times (9 July 2007).(subscription required)
3. The Chancellor, The University of Buckingham (updated 17 May 2007, accessed 4 October 2008) Archived 20 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine
4. Martin Jacomb, 'Britain's only independent university', Forward Together (University of Buckingham 30th Anniversary Campaign 2006-2012) (updated 24 April 2008, accessed 4 October 2008) Archived 23 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
5. Martin Jacomb, "The solution is to privatise Oxford", The Spectator, 6 December 2006.
6. "Sir Martin Jacomb, City grandee closely linked to the 'Big Bang' revolution – obituary". The Telegraph. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.

• 1929 births
• 2024 deaths
• Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford
• British bankers
• People educated at Eton College
• Members of the Inner Temple
• Knights Bachelor
• Fellows of King's College London
• People associated with the University of Buckingham
• British barristers
• People of the British Council