David Coleman has been the Reader in Demography at Oxford University since 1996. Between 1985 and 1987 he was a Special Adviser for the British government. Researches include the comparative demographic trends in the industrial world and the demography of ethnic minorities. He has been a consultant for the Home Office and the United Nations. Professor Coleman has published over 90 papers; eight books include The British Population: patterns, trends and processes (with J. Salt, 1992, Oxford University Press) and Immigration to Denmark: national and international perspectives (with E. Wadensjö, 1999, Aarhus University Press). He was joint editor of the European Journal of Population from 1992 to 2000 and in 1997 was elected to the Council of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population.