In 1946, David’s family moved to Yellow Springs , Ohio . Following graduation from Bryan High School in 1960, David attended Swarthmore College. In 1961 he transferred to Antioch College in Yellow Springs , Ohio. The next year he survived a spinal cord injury and lived 46 more years as a spirited quadriplegic and disability rights activist.After graduating from Antioch in 1965, David attended Washington University in St. Louis , Missouri , where he received his Ph.D in Economics. He joined the faculty of San Jose State , in 1970 as part of a group of economists devoted to teaching economics relevant to the less affluent majority of the world. He was part of a group of radical economists “dismissed” from SJ State in 1974 and went on to become a “Freeway Flyer,” serving on faculties at Foothill, Indian Valley and Sonoma State.
David was a founding member of the Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE). His life reflected the ways in which people with disabilities broke barriers and paved new avenues for social justice. He traveled extensively with the Disabled International Support Effort (DISE) to Nicaragua , El Salvador and Cuba , conducting workshops and delivering medical supplies. For several years, he served as coordinator for student affairs at the Computer Technologies Program in Berkeley, California.
David was also an interviewer/editor for the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library Oral History Project on the disability rights movement. Along with serving on the board of the Oakland Men’s Project, he was appointed to the Mayor’s Commission on Disabled Persons in Oakland , California . In the 1990s, he was a member of Quadzilla, a Bay Area rugby team for people with disabilities.