NYU Wagner

David Elcott has spent the last twenty-five years at the intersection of community building, the search for a theory of cross-boundary engagement, and interfaith and ethnic activism. Trained in political psychology and Middle East affairs at Columbia University and Judaic studies at the American Jewish University, Dr. Elcott is the Taub Professor of Practice in Public Service and Leadership at the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU, senior research fellow at the Research Center for Leadership in Action and Faculty Director of Wagner's Executive MPA program. His present research is focused on the baby-boomer cohort, encore careers, and public service. He was formally the Vice-President of the National Center for Learning and Leadership, a think-tank tasked with rethinking contemporary community and civic obligation. As Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee and as the Executive Director of the Israel Policy Forum, David has addressed a wide array of public policy issues and has built interfaith and interethnic coalitions to address Middle East peace, immigration reform, civil liberties and workers rights. He has written A Sacred Journey: The Jewish Quest for a Perfect World and numerous articles and monographs on power and war, minority civic engagement, and cross cultural pluralism. He has represented the Jewish community in interfaith settings in Europe, South America and Asia.