David has been the Bursar since 1988. He is also the Director of the Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (OxCHEPS), which is based at New College. David was a Member of the Board of the Office for Students (OfS) and a Trustee of the University of Bahrain.

Teaching

David regularly lectures on Higher Education policy, governance, and management; as well as on legal matters relating to the running of universities. 

Research Interests

• The law of higher education; comparative international HE policy (David is the joint editor of the 27 volume Routledge/Taylor&Francis 'International Studies in Higher Education' series); and the management of universities.
  Selected Publications
• Farrington & Palfreyman, The Law of Higher Education (2021 third edition, Oxford University Press Legal Practitioners Series).
• Palfreyman, The Oxford Tutorial (2019 Amazon/Kindle; 2010 Chinese edition, University of Peking Press; 2019 Korean translation). 
• Palfreyman & Tapper, Structuring Mass Higher Education: The Role of Elite Institutions (2009, Routledge). 
• Tapper & Palfreyman, The Collegiate Tradition in Higher Education (2010, Springer).
• Tapper & Palfreyman, Oxford, the Collegiate University: Conflict, Consensus, and Continuity (2011, Springer).
• Palfreyman, London's Livery Companies (2010, Oracle); London's Inns of Court (2011, Oracle); London's Pall Mall Clubs (2019, Kindle/Amazon)
• Palfreyman & Tapper, Reshaping the University: The Rise of the Regulated Market in Higher Education, 2014, Oxford University Press).
• Palfreyman & Temple, Universities and Colleges: A Very Short Introduction (2017, Oxford University Press)
• Palfreyman et al, Towards the Private Funding of Higher Education: Ideological and Political Struggles (2018, Routledge)