A retired professor, university administrator, international negotiator, diplomat, and lawyer, David Kirkham and his wife Judy recently completed service as Special Representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Arab Emirates, where they conducted governmental, humanitarian, and interfaith relations.
David currently serves as president of the International Society, a global network of diplomats, entrepreneurs, lawyers, educators, and other professionals with ties to Latter-day Saint institutions and interests. Since 2007 he has also served as Senior Fellow for Comparative Law and International Policy at the Brigham Young University Law School International Center for Law and Religion Studies (BYU-ICLRS). Additionally, from 2015 to 2019, he served as Academic Director and professor at the BYU London Centre.
David began his career in Washington DC and England in the early 1980s as a US Air Force lawyer (JAG) and has since, in various capacities, represented the US Government, the United Nations, and BYU in over 50 countries on six continents. His additional academic and diplomatic appointments include: associate dean and professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; Director of International Plans and Programs and associate professor of history at the United States Air Force Academy; Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva; US Air Force International Negotiations Officer in Europe and North Africa; and BYU associate professor of political science. He holds a Ph.D. from George Washington University and a Juris Doctorate from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, specializing in international human rights and constitutional studies.
David is married to the former Judith Hunter, and they are the parents of eight children and soon-to-be grandparents of twenty-three.
