David Barker

David C. Barker serves as Division Director of the Social and Economic Sciences Division (SES) in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation. He is also a Professor of Government at American University, where he previously served as Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies (2017-2024).  In earlier stints, he served as Director of the Institute for Social Research at California State University, Sacramento (2012-2017), and as a professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh (1999-2012). He has also held visiting or honorary appointments at Science Po (Paris), the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow), and the University of Sydney.

In his administrative roles, Dr. Barker has founded or co-founded several programs, including the Program on Legislative Negotiation, the New Perspectives in Studies of American Governance program, the Madison Prize for Constitutional Excellence, the Thurber Dialogues on Democracy, the Public Health Survey Research Program, CALSPEAKS Opinion Research, and Valley Vision Opinion Research.

A political scientist, Dr. Barker’s primary research interests are in American public opinion, electoral politics, and public policymaking, with a particular emphasis on political polarization. On these subjects, he has authored or co-authored five university press books, a co-edited volume, dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles, dozens more policy reports, and several popular press articles.  Much of this work has been supported by grants and contracts, totaling over $20 million.