David Wheat is an experienced consultant and interdisciplinary policy scientist. He is dedicated to improving the systems thinking and modeling skills of students and clients through the design and evaluation of system dynamics-based learning environments. At the University of Bergen in Norway, he teaches modeling to international students in the two-year master's degree program in system dynamics. At the same time, he uses the Internet to teach distance learning courses in both macroeconomics and microeconomics to U.S. students enrolled at Virginia Western Community College.

His interactive computer simulation model of the U.S. economy enables undergraduates to learn macroeconomic dynamics before mastering higher-order math skills. A frequent presenter at international conferences, he has a wide-ranging research record that spans many years. He received his PhD in May 2007.

He received his master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, after gaining a degree in government and mathematics from Texas Tech University. Later, he worked at The White House on economic and energy policy issues.

In his consulting career, he has worked with more than 140 clients in both the public and private sectors. As senior fellow with the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, he specializes in education policy. In 1996, while teaching advanced placement government to secondary students, he was named National Teacher of the Year in Rural Telecommunications for his simultaneous teaching of classes at separate schools via an interactive, fiber optic television network.

Professional Affiliations
• American Economic Association
• Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
• National Association for Business Economics
• System Dynamics Society, including the Economics Chapter (President-elect)

In the 1980s
"Truly outstanding and trustworthy."
Max Hoyt, then Manager of Regulatory Affairs at Mitchell Energy Corporation

"One of the best practical thinkers on the Washington energy scene."
Frank Cahoon, then Chairman of Copano Refining Inc.

In the 1970s
"Ability, dedication, and loyalty of the highest order."
Anne Armstrong, then Counsellor to the President

"Quick enough to hit it at a run."
Donald Rumsfeld, then Director of the Cost of Living Council

"His analysis of the Boston heroin market was an intellectual tour de force."
Daniel P. Moynihan, then professor at Harvard University