David Shukman

{{Infobox person

| name = David Shukman

| image =

| caption =

| birthname = David Roderick Shukman

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|5|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = St Pancras, London, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = Dragon School
Eton College

| alma_mater = Durham University

| occupation = Journalist

| employer = BBC
Coventry Evening Telegraph {{small|(1980–1983)}}

| title = Science Editor of BBC News {{small|(2012–2021)}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Jessica Pryce-Jones|1988}}

| children = 3

| mother = Ann King-Farlow

| father = Harold Shukman

| relatives = Henry Shukman (brother)
David Pryce-Jones (father-in-law)

| website = {{URL|www.davidshukman.com}}

}}

David Roderick Shukman (born 30 May 1958) is a British journalist, and the former science editor of BBC News.

Early life

Shukman was born in 1958 in St Pancras, London. He is of Jewish ancestry – his grandfather, whom he is named after, was part of the Jewish community who lived in Baranow, Congress Poland which was then part of the Russian Empire, before emigrating and settling in the United Kingdom.{{cite news|last=Shukman|first=David|title=A Polish village's forgotten Jewish dead|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18440223|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=16 June 2012|date=16 June 2012}} His father was Harold Shukman, a Russian scholar at St Antony's College, Oxford;{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/9566293/Harold-Shukman.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Harold Shukman | date=25 September 2012}} his mother was Ann King-Farlow, also a Russian scholar, of writers such as Alexander Men (a Russian theologian). His brother Henry Shukman is a meditation teacher and co-founder of The Way.{{cite web |url=https://henryshukman.com/ |title=Zen Teacher, Author, Poet |website=Henry Shukman |access-date=July 1, 2024}}

Shukman attended the Dragon School and Eton College, then earned a bachelor's degree in geography at Durham University in 1980.{{cite book |title=Shukman, David Roderick, (born 30 May 1958), Science Editor, BBC News |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-2000161 |publisher=UK Who's Who |doi = 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U2000161|isbn = 978-0-19-954088-4|accessdate=4 October 2018 |language=en }}{{cite web |title=Durham University gazette, XXV (ns) no. 2 including supplement |url=http://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=bookreader/DU_Gazettes/DUGazette25_2/dg252METS.xml#page/50/mode/2up |website=Durham University Gazette |accessdate=4 October 2018 |language=en}} and was a member of Hatfield College.{{cite web |title=Hatfield College : Alumni |url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/hatfield.college/alumni/ |website=Durham University |accessdate=4 October 2018 |language=en}}

Career

Shukman worked at the Coventry Evening Telegraph from 1980 to 1983 when he joined the BBC. He was a Northern Ireland reporter from 1985 to 1987, then the Defence Correspondent (TV) from 1987 to 1995. From then until 1999 he was the European Correspondent, and broadening his coverage in 1999, he became the World Affairs Correspondent until 2003, when he became Environment and Science correspondent.

In January 2012 Shukman was appointed as the BBC's first science editor. Shukman said: "It's a privilege to be given this new role as part of the BBC's drive to enhance its science coverage. The science story has never been so compelling and I'm delighted to be given this opportunity to lead our reporting and analysis of it."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jan/16/bbc-david-shukman-science-editor|work=The Guardian|date=16 January 2012|title=BBC names David Shukman as first science editor|author=Plunkett, John|location=London}}

Personal life

In 1998, Shukman married Jessica Pryce-Jones, an author and executive coach.{{cite journal |title=Shukman, David Roderick |journal=Who's Who |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U2000161 }}{{cite news |title=How to be a good (cancer) patient |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/how-to-be-a-good-cancer-patient-jq0xbwlc7 |access-date=10 February 2020 |work=The Times |date=30 December 2017}} They have three children. He is a member of the Frontline Club.

Bibliography

Brown, Ben and Shukman, David, All Necessary Means : Inside the Gulf War, 1994
Shukman, David, The Sorcerer's Challenge: Fears and Hopes for the Weapons of the Next Millennium, 1996
Shukman, David, Tomorrow's War: The Threat of High-Technology Weapons, 1996
Shukman, David, Reporting Live from the End of the Word. Profile Books, 2010.
Shukman, David, Reporting Live from the End of the World , 2011
Shukman, David, An Iceberg As Big As Manhattan, 2011