Professor
David John Southwood (born 30 June 1945) is a British space scientist and former
President of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012-2014). Until 2011 he was Director of Science and Robotic Exploration at the
European Space Agency. He also holds the post of Senior Research Investigator at
Imperial College London. His research interests have been in solar–terrestrial physics and planetary science, including building the magnetic field instrument for the
Cassini Saturn orbiter.