David Marchick, an attorney, former government official and business leader, serves as interim president of American University (AU). Marchick previously served as dean of AU’s Kogod School of Business.

Under Marchick's leadership, Kogod has a prioritized sustainability and entrepreneurship, leading to a national award for the best sustainability curriculum in the United States.  Kogod’s overall rankings have risen to the top 50 in the United States by US News, Bloomberg and QS; to #3 in sustainability; and to #7 for entrepreneurship for schools under 10,000 students.  Kogod’s US News rankings have risen 72 slots over four years to 46, more than any other school in the country. Marchick also has focused on preparing students for the AI economy and infusing AI into the curriculum. Times Higher Education's Poets&Quants designated Kogod’s AI program as the best in the country and recognized Kogod’s work as “the most consequential AI transformation in business education.”  Bloomberg called the Kogod School the “First AI First Business School.” 

Prior to joining Kogod, Marchick served as Chief Operating Officer of the United States Development Finance Corporation during the first year of the Biden Administration. As the Biden Administration’s senior appointee at the agency, he managed agency priorities, oversaw business operations, and led the agency’s work to support manufacturing of more than 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa and South Asia.

Before joining the Biden Administration, Marchick served for 16 months as Director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the non-profit Partnership for Public Service. In that role, he helped the Biden Transition team architect their transition plan and worked as a liaison between the Biden and Trump teams to facilitate a peaceful transition of power.

Marchick spent 12 years at the Carlyle Group as Managing Director and as a Member of Carlyle’s Management Committee. He led Carlyle’s global regulatory and government affairs, communications and branding, events, research and sustainability functions, and had broad responsibility for engaging with Carlyle’s investors. He launched Carlyle’s sustainability initiatives and helped drive both the firm’s and the industry’s diversity efforts. Marchick was part of the core team to take Carlyle public and helped manage Carlyle’s public reporting and quarterly earnings reports. At Carlyle, he built strong relationships with organized labor, earning him the United Steelworkers “Solidarity and Appreciation Award” in 2013.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Marchick was a partner at and Vice Chair of the International Group at Covington, where his practice focused on international trade, CFIUS, transportation, and legislative matters.

Marchick served in the Clinton Administration for seven years, holding positions at the White House, Department of State, Department of Commerce and Office of the United States Trade Representative. In these roles, he worked on international trade and investment issues, including NAFTA, creation of the WTO and US-China negotiations.  He has traveled to China more than 75 times.

Marchick has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards, including governance roles at the Holocaust Memorial Museum (appointed by Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden); as co-chair of the National Council of the National Park Foundation; for the Center for Global Development; and as a trustee at Bates College, where his son graduated; and a half dozen corporate boards. He previously served on the board of the UC San Diego (UCSD) Foundation, the board affiliated with UCSD.

Marchick recently received UCSD’s highest alumni award along with the President of Dartmouth College and two founder/CEOs. Marchick served on the coordinating cabinet for UCSD’s $3 billion campaign and the Holocaust Memorial Museum’s $1.1 billion campaign.  He previously was an Adjunct Professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, Georgetown Law and George Washington University.

Marchick hosted the podcast Transition Lab and is the co-author of two books, The Peaceful Transition of Power: An Oral History of Presidential Transitions and U.S. National Security and Foreign Direct Investment.

Marchick holds a law degree from the George Washington University, a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA from the University of California at San Diego.

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