David Waller Barnard '79
(Year Awarded--1999)

Born in Topeka, Kansas, and reared in Gainesville, Florida, David Barnard entered Davidson College in 1975 with a stellar record of accomplishment in academics, athletics, and service. He was to build upon and enrich this record at Davidson.

Intending to follow his father into a medical career, he came under the sway of Professors Avinger and Ratliff and majored in economics, and his academic success was recognized with induction into Omicron Delta Kappa. He was a member of the football team for four years, captaining special teams in his senior year. His friendship with C. Shaw Smith led him into broad involvement in campus life; he served as a union board member, president of his class, and an admission office volunteer.

In his senior year, he was awarded a prestigious Watson Fellowship that provided a life-changing experience. Following graduation, he used this fellowship to study and travel in Pakistan and Taiwan. He returned from a year abroad to earn a degree in management from Yale University. He entered a career in business, focusing on Asia. He acquired advanced language skills, living and working in Tokyo for three years, where he met his wife.

Among the leading proponents of international education for Davidson undergraduates, his vocation has translated into service to the College. Less than five years after graduation, he provided funds to enable Davidson students to travel in non-European countries. He is a founding member of the Dean Rusk Program in International Studies and serves on its advisory board. He has established endowments to support student travel and study in the Far East and medical service in the Third World, this latter endowment named for his friend, Ambassador Jack Perry. He currently leads the effort among Davidson's past Watson Fellows to endow a summer international program for the College's undergraduates.

He has supported admission efforts by hosting events for prospective students and has sponsored student recruiting efforts in Asia. He served as unofficial president of the Tokyo alumni chapter, has been involved in efforts to honor two important Davidsonians, Charlie Ratliff and Will Terry, and serves on the Terry Scholarship Advisory Board. He has also found time to be an Annual Fund chair and to encourage sound management techniques in the operations of the Annual Fund.

Because you strive to create a Davidson College that knows no geographic boundaries; because your vision and generosity enable Davidson students to venture into new cultures and experiences; and because you have never forgotten alma mater no matter where in the world you might be, the Alumni Association honors you, David Waller Barnard '79, and presents you with the Alumni Service Award on the occasion of the 20th Reunion of your class.