David Gubbins is a British geophysicist specialising in geomagnetism and seismology. Educated at Cambridge University, he obtained a B.A. in Natural Sciences, in 1968, M. Math in 1969, and Ph.D. in Geophysics in 1972.  From 1972-75 he worked at University of Colorado, MIT, and UCLA before returning to the Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, Cambridge. In 1989 he went to head geophysics at Leeds University, where he is now Emeritus Professor of Geophysics. He is also Honorary Professor at MUST and Research Associate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California.

He is best known for his work on the dynamo theory of the origin of the Earth’s magnetic field, elucidating the power source for the dynamo, and the compilation and analysis of historical and current geomagnetic observations. He has also worked in earthquake seismology, developing early methods of seismic tomography and conducting a survey of anomalous earthquake signals in New Zealand. He has recently turned his attention to that part of the magnetic field due to magnetised crustal rocks, developing new methods of analysis of the magnetisation. He is part of the Macau Science Satellite team at MUST, in the Macau Institute of Space Technology and Application. His research has benefitted enormously from a string of excellent students, which includes two fellows of the Royal Society, the first woman to be appointed to a Chair of Geophysics in the UK, and another the first Professor of either Geology or Geophysics in Australia.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1996, of the American Geophysical Union in 1985, and of the Institute of Physics in 1996.  He is a Foreign Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and Honorary Member of the European Geosciences Union. He has been awarded with the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, Fleming Medal of the American Geophysical Union, and Arthur Holmes medal of the European Geosciences Union.