David graduated from the University of Warwick with a BSc (first class honours) degree in Mathematics in 1978. Working in the field of nonlinear dynamical systems and bifurcation theory, he gained a PhD in Mathematics from Southampton University in 1982 and held postdoctoral positions in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University and the Mathematics Department at Southampton.

David joined the University of Portsmouth as a Research Fellow in 1992, initially in the School of Mathematical Studies and later in the Centre for Molecular Design. His current research interests are in the development of computational methods for molecular design, QSAR and chemometrics, with particular emphasis on methods for analysing molecular surface properties.