Jacobson, David Cary, 1951-

David Cary Jacobson (born October 9, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 29th United States Ambassador to Canada.

Born in Chicago, He grew up in Highland Park, Illinois. After receiving his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1973, he attended Georgetown University’s law school, where he was the administrative editor of the Georgetown Law Journal and received his J.D. in 1976. After working briefly at a prominent New York law firm, he accepted a job at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP, an international law firm with operations in Europe and the United States, including a lobbying office in Washington, DC, that worked on behalf of failed insurance giant AIG.

Jacobson ended up making partner at Sonnenschein and spending 30 years at the firm, specializing in complex commercial, class action, securities, insurance and business litigation, including E-commerce. His clients included prominent companies like Prudential, Allstate, Travelers, The Chicago and North Western Railway, and General Motors. Beyond his law career, Jacobson started the Chicago networking event known as First Tuesday, a monthly cocktail-hour get together for tech entrepreneurs, financiers, and corporate executives. He also founded AtomWorks, an organization to bring together corporate, civic and academic leaders in order to foster nanotechnology in the Midwest.

Jacobson has served as a member of CEOs for Cities, a national bipartisan alliance of 75 mayors, corporate executives, university presidents and nonprofit leaders organized to advance the economic competitiveness of cities. He also has served on the boards of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and the Better Boys Foundation.

A prominent fundraiser for the Obama campaign in 2008, following the presidential transition, Jacobson joined the White House in January 2009 as a special assistant to the president for the Office of Presidential Personnel. His focus was on filling slots on executive branch boards and commissions. He remained in this position until assuming his ambassadorship.

Jacobson's appointment to be the United States Ambassador to Canada was confirmed by the United States Senate. His confirmation hearings began on August 5, 2009 and the final confirmation occurred September 23, 2009 by unanimous consent. His credentials were accepted by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on October 2, 2009, and he took his post as ambassador. As Ambassador, he worked to expand the bilateral trading relationship between the United States and Canada, raising it to the highest level between any two countries in history. He worked to strike a balance between using North America’s energy resources and preserving the environment, and to foster the shared values of the United States and Canada around the world. For his efforts, Ambassador Jacobson received the State Department’s 2012 Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service. On May 21, 2013, Jacobson announced his departure from the Embassy after nearly four years as Ambassador to Canada, effective July 15.

Jacobson was named Vice Chair of BMO Financial Group in October 2013. In this role he is responsible for driving business across all lines, including Capital Markets, Personal and Commercial Banking, and Wealth Management. Among other responsibilities at the bank, Jacobson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Montreal (China) Co. Ltd., and serves as Chair of BMO’s Political Action Committee. Jacobson lives in Chicago with his wife Julie. They have two adult children.