Donald K. David, a native of Moscow, Idaho, was born in 1896. A 1916 graduate of the University of Idaho, he enrolled in the Harvard Business School MBA program in 1917 and was hired by the Harvard Business School research staff upon graduation in 1919. He joined the School's teaching faculty soon thereafter as a marketing professor, helping to design the Retail Store Management course. David was promoted to Associate Professor of Marketing in 1926 and began participating in various administrative efforts within the school.
In 1927, at the insistence of his close friend and company founder, William Ziegler, David moved to New York City to assume the Vice Presidency of Royal Baking Powder Company. In 1932, Royal Baking Powder Company merged with Standard Foods and David was elected President of American Maize Company, a position he held until 1941. During this same year, he was appointed the William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, a position he had convinced Ziegler to fund in 1927. In 1941, David accepted the position of Assistant Dean under Dean Wallace Donham and he was appointed Dean upon Donham's retirement.
In addition to his duties at Harvard Business School, David worked as a consultant with many different companies, foundations and government committees. He served as an executive of Aluminum Limited, American Maize Products Company, the Federal Reserve Bank, Ford Motor Company, General Electric Company and Standard Brands. He was also on the boards of several foundations such as the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and the Whitewall Foundation. Donald K. David was also a member of the Advisory Council for the Office of Civilian Requirements, a committee within the War Production Board and member of the Committee for Economic Development, for which he coauthored the paper, "How Big Will Our Post-War Markets Be?"
David retired as Dean of Harvard Business School in 1955.
From the guide to the Donald K. David papers, 1928-1960, (Baker Library, Harvard Business School)
