David Wendt (1944-2026) was the co-founder and founding president of the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs.

 

David was born in New Jersey in 1944 and raised in Haddonfield.  A talented young man from the start, David was the state’s spelling bee champion in 8th grade and an eagle scout by age 13. After winning a national essay competition at age 14, David was sent by Boy’s Life magazine to Switzerland to climb the Matterhorn which he was believed to be the youngest American to climb at the time.  David graduated as his high school class valedictorian. 

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David attended Harvard, where, as a student of political science, he studied under Henry Kissinger.  Between his junior and senior year, David spent a year in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, teaching English.  There, young man adventures included swimming with hippos; climbing Mount Kilimanjaro without a guide, and with all of his companions peeling off due to the altitude, finding himself alone at the summit.  His friend group in Dar Es Salaam included Eduardo Mondlane, who was the founder of Mozambique’s front for liberation and the nation’s founding father.  Returning to Harvard, David graduated Phi Beta Kappa.  After Harvard, David received his doctorate at Columbia, where his thesis advisor was former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski.

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Over his career, David was involved for over 40 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 David 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.

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As founder and director of the CSIS program on International Economic and Social Development in the 1990s, David 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 David 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.

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After leaving CSIS in 1998, David 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 served as President until early 2021.

 

David was the intellectual firepower and initial strategist for JHCGA's ongoing work.  Some of the Op-Eds and thought pieces he wrote over the years can be found here. 

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He first came to Jackson Hole in the 60's, as head wrangler at the White Grass Ranch.