David Hart Weeks (born December 21, 1960) is an American politician, retired U.S. Navy

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and businessman who serves as the

Vermont state senator The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Vermont, in the United States. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself. The Ge ...

from

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

. A Republican, Weeks was elected to the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

in 2022, as one of three at-large senators representing the

Rutland County Rutland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,572, making it the second-most populous county in Vermont. Its county seat and most populous municipality is the city of Rutland. H ...

Senate district.

Early life and education

The youngest of five siblings, Weeks was born on December 21, 1960, on the US Submarine Base near Gales Ferry, Connecticut, the son of Geraldine A. Backensto and Robert H. Weeks. His father was a U.S. Navy

, and businessman who served two terms in the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

from Wallingford. David graduated from

Mill River Union High School Mill River Union High School, commonly known as Mill River or MRU is a public junior-senior high school in Clarendon, Vermont. and is part of the Mill River Unified Union School District. MRUUSD includes the towns of Clarendon, Wallingford, S ...

and is a graduate of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

. He later received a MBA in Project Management from

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

as a Teplitz fellow, a Master of Strategic Studies from the Army War College, and a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

. David initiated PhD studies at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

focusing on a national security question.

Military career

Weeks first enlisted in the

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

Company B, 1st BN, 25th Marines. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Navy where his service included the Chief Engineer on the USS Mobile Bay. In 1997 he transitioned to the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

. In the wake of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, he was mobilized and deployed overseas three times, including to the Iraq/Kuwait border, where he took part in the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 2013 as a

Business career

Weeks transitioned from the active duty Navy in 1997 to pursue a career in business. He has held various high-level program management positions in the defense and security sectors within the United States, Europe, East Asia, and Middle East. He specialized in leading commercial high-tech, internationally sensitive projects valued in the billions.

Political career

Weeks was elected to the

in 2022, as one of three at-large senators representing the

Senate district. He ran on an economic platform focusing on infrastructure and business development. He is the Vice Chair of the Senate Health/Welfare Committee, Senate Education Committee, Legislative Committee on Rules (LCAR), the School Construction Task Force, State Aid to School Construction Working Group, and the VT Webportal Board.

Personal life

Weeks lives in Proctor, Vermont with his wife, Leeanne Wootten. He has two adult children, Jacob and Sarah Weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weeks, Dave 1960 births Living people United States Navy officers 21st-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Vermont 21st-century American legislators University of Vermont alumni University of San Diego alumni People from Proctor, Vermont People from Wallingford, Vermont Republican Party Vermont state senators