David Wendt has been involved for
over 30 years in building consensus among groups concerned with global
issues. As program officer in 1975-76 for "A Declaration of
Interdependence," a U.S. bicentennial program of the World Affairs Council
of Philadelphia, he coordinated the annual meetings of a dozen national
professional associations around themes of global interdependence. During
the 1980s Dr. Wendt was responsible for the programs and budget of the
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in Washington, D.C.
The Center’s budget more than doubled during this period, growing from $5
million to $12 million.
As founder and director of the CSIS program on International Economic and
Social Development in the 1990s, Dr. Wendt developed numerous policy reports
addressing key issues of global health, population, and the environment.
These reports were based on the discussions of working groups bringing
together leaders from diverse sectors. Chairs of these working groups
included Rep. Tony Beilenson (D-CA), Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA), Sen. Al Gore
(D-TN), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Sen. Al Simpson (R-WY).
The U.S.-Chongqing Task Force in Energy-Environmental Cooperation, developed
by Dr. Wendt in cooperation with the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR),
in Seattle, was the forerunner of JHCGA’s current U.S.-China Clean Energy
Initiative. The Task Force brought U.S. government officials, business
leaders, and technical experts together with the leaders of Chongqing to
mobilize action steps responding to energy/environmental needs of this city
of 30 million inhabitants.
Dr. Wendt also developed the agenda for the International Women's Leadership
Forum, a group of women heads of state and other women leaders who met in
Stockholm in May 1996 to consider challenges of global leadership.
After leaving CSIS in 1998, Dr. Wendt served for 8 years as Special
Assistant to the President at Idaho State University. In this capacity he
had responsibility for developing the University’s institutional
relationships with universities abroad. In 2002, while still serving in
this capacity, he co-founded the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs. He
has served as its President since that time.
Dr. Wendt is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College, receiving his A.B.
in Social Studies in 1967. He earned his doctorate in Political Science at
Columbia University in 1975. Dr. Wendt first came to Jackson Hole in the
1960s, when he was foreman of the White Grass Ranch.
Email David Wendt