Dave Wilson

Dr. David A. Wilson has had a broad and distinguished career in both the academic and corporate worlds.  He holds a B. Com. from Queen’s University in Canada, an MBA in Finance from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in Accounting, and Finance from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign.  He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (Ontario, Canada) and a Certified Public Accountant (Texas).

He was a tenured member of the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin and a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Business School.  He is the author, or co-author, of four books in accounting and corporate financial reporting and dozens of cases and articles.

Dave later joined Arthur Young & Company, now Ernst & Young, as an audit partner and subsequently as managing partner, national director of professional development and chair of the firm’s international committee for professional development and a member of the board of directors of the Ernst & Young Foundation.  After his first retirement, he became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Graduate Management Admission Council.

He has had more than 50 years of executive and board level experience having served in the past on the corporate boards of Sylvan Learning Systems, Laureate Education, Inc., Terra Industries, Barnes & Noble, Barnes & Noble Education and as the Lead Director for CoreSite Realty, Inc.

Dave currently serves on the board of trustees of Johnson & Wales University.  He has served, in prior years, on the board of directors of Junior Achievement Worldwide, The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and The Atlantic Council. He was the Bailli Délégué of the Confrérerie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs des Etats-Unis and a member of its international governing board Le Conseil d’Administration (Paris).  He has served as a Trustee of the National Symphony in Washington.  In 2015, Dr. Wilson was named by the National Association of Corporate Directors to the NACD Directorship 100 as one on the most influential people in the boardroom community.

Dave and his wife Jane have been long-time supporters of Gulfshore Playhouse. Their support and passion for the arts has helped make the dream of a new building come to life.

He proudly serves on the Board of Directors as chair of the Finance Committee, and co-chair of the Planned Giving Council for Gulfshore Playhouse.