David S. Birdsell

Dean
School of Public Affairs, Baruch College


David’s work centers on the nexus of communication, media, and information technology in politics, government, and nonprofit administration. He studies public access to information technology in community technology centers and public libraries and advises the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Congressional Management Foundation and other organizations on their communication and technology programs. Recently he has worked with the United Way of New York City and the Clark Foundation to better understand member organizations’ executive development needs. Those studies have lead to the creation of more than 20 new programs designed to improve the quality of leadership in the nonprofit and public sectors. An expert on political debating and author of four books and more than 30 articles, chapters and foundation reports on communication theory and practice, David is a regular guest commentator on debates and other aspects of political communication for local, national, and international television and print media. His work has been supported by many funders, including the Pew Charitable Trusts, the IBM Endowment for the Study of Business and Government, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, the New York Community Trust, the JPMorganChase Foundation, and the Markle Foundation.

Convinced that a healthy democracy requires the active and informed participation of all of its citizens, David has worked with several nonprofits and school-based programs to stimulate civic engagement. He ran the Annenberg Foundation’s New York City Student Voices Project, served on the boards of SavvyVoter and the Volunteer Consulting Group, designed community education projects with the City’s public libraries, and has for more than twenty years volunteered with debate programs in public high school sin New York. He is proud to serve as faculty advisor for Baruch’s highly successful debate team.

He received his BA and MA degrees from the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. in Public Communication from the University of Maryland.