Current Role: Chair, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Liberal Arts
Employer: Cal Poly University- San Luis Obispo
Previous Role: Professor of Science Communication, University of Manchester, UK

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After graduating from IB (also known as Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution at the time), David went on to get his PhD in the field of molecular evolutionary genetics at University of Maryland – College Park.  Since then, he has worked in the fields of science communication and Science & Technology Studies.  

“Who would have thought that my senior project on cockroach behavior led to me becoming an internationally known scholar on the topic of movies and science communication?”

David is currently a Professor and Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Liberal Arts at Cal Poly University- San Luis Obispo. He is also Director of the program in Science, Technology and Society. 

“My journey since leaving Illinois has involved giving talks in over 30 countries and advising on the science/culture intersection with media organizations in the US, UK, Portugal, Germany, Australia, and South Korea. One of the most influential moments of my life was learning about Richard Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene in an introduction to biology lecture given in Foellinger Auditorium. Little did I know then that I would end up being named co-headliner alongside Dawkins at a 2017 science festival in St. Petersburg, Russia speaking in front of a crowd of 10,000 people.”

His academic career has been pretty unique. He spent five years as an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at American University in Washington, DC where he taught genetics and molecular biology. In 2001 he left bench science to pursue his interests in film and science. He undertook a Postdoctoral Retraining Fellowship, supported by the National Science Foundation, in Cornell University's Department of Science and Technology Studies. After two years at Cornell, he spent a year teaching at Duke University before moving overseas to take up a position as Professor of Science Communication Studies at the University of Manchester in the UK. In 2019 he left the UK to move back to the States and become the inaugural chair of the new Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Liberal Arts at Cal Poly University- San Luis Obispo.

David is the author of the book Lab Coats in Hollywood, which examines the collaborations between scientists and the entertainment industry. He is currently writing a book titled Indecent Science: Religion, Science, and Movie Censorship that will explore how movies served as a battleground over science’s role in influencing morality. You can see more about David’s career on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Kirby