Biography

David is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, positions he has held for the past decade. In addition, he serves as a senior political analyst for CNN and contributes to Parade Magazine.

In the past, he has served as a White House adviser to four U.S. presidents: Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. He wrote about those experiences in his New York Times best-seller, Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton (Simon & Schuster, 2001). In the 1980s, he also served as chief editor of U.S. News & World Report, initiating him in journalism.

Over the years, he has been active on many non-profit boards, including both Yale and Duke universities. Among his current boards are Teach for America, City Year, Schwab Foundation, the Aspen Institute; he also chairs the Advisory Board for the Elon University School of Law. He is a member of the D.C. Bar, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the U.S. executive committee for the Trilateral Commission.

David is an honors graduate of Yale and the Harvard Law School. He has been awarded 22 honorary degrees.

He has been married since 1967 to Anne Elizabeth Gergen, a family therapist. They have two children and four grand-children. Son Christopher is a social entrepreneur in North Carolina as well as an author and member of the Duke faculty. Daughter Katherine is a family doctor, working with the underserved population at the Boston Medical Center.

He is currently at work on a new book about renewing America's political culture.

Non-Profit Boards

  • Aspen Institute
  • Boston Museum Project
  • Campaign Against Teen Pregnancy
  • Center for Global Development
  • Center for the Study of the Presidency
  • City Year
  • Duke University
  • Morehouse College Leadership Institute
  • Schwab Foundation for Social Enterprise
  • Teach for America
  • World Resources Institute
  • Yale Corporation (former)

Advisory Roles

  • Chair, National Selection Committee for Innovations in American Government
  • Co-chair, National Selection Committee, Top American Leaders (co-sponsored by The Washington Post and Center for Public Leadership, Kennedy School)
  • Chair, National Advisory Board, DukEngage
  • Chair, National Advisory Board, Elon University Law School
  • Chair, Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery Peck Presidential Awards (for service to the U.S. presidency)
  • Member, Selection committees for Social Capitalist Awards (best social entrepreneurs, U.S.)
  • Civic Venture Purpose Prize Awards (citizens over 60 creating social change)
  • Scholarship committees at Harvard for George, Reynolds and Zuckerman Fellows (fellowships created through the Center for Public Leadership for students committing to service for the common good)

For-Profit Boards

  • Bright Horizons
  • Intel (former)

Professional Memberships

  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Trilateral Commission