Dr David Halpern, Director, Behavioural Insights Team

David Solomon Halpern (born June 1966) is a British civil servant, heading the Behavioural Insights Team (unofficially known as the Nudge Unit) spun out from the Cabinet Office.

Education

Halpern attended

King's School, Rochester The King's School, Rochester, is an English independent school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral, the Dean of Rochester serves as chair of the school's governing body. The sc ...

, before attending Christ's College,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

achieving a 1st in

natural Sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

specialising in experimental psychology. He then went on to complete a PhD in social and political sciences, also at St John's College, Cambridge.

Career

Halpern was a research fellow at the Policy Studies Institute (1991–94), a

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

prize research fellow (1993–96) and a lecturer in social human sciences at the

(1996–2001). From 2001 to 2007 Halpern was chief analyst in the

Prime Minister's Strategy Unit The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (often referred to simply as The Strategy Unit) was a unit based in the UK Cabinet Office between 2002 and 2010 (with its predecessor unit, the Performance and Innovation Unit, dating back to 1999). The Strategy ...

. He was then director of the

Institute for Government The Institute for Government (IfG) is a British independent think tank which aims to improve government effectiveness through research and analysis. Based at 2 Carlton Gardens in central London and founded as a charity in 2008, it was initially ...

from 2008 to 2010, where he remains a senior fellow. Since October 2010 Halpern has been director of the Behavioural Insights Team, initially as part of the Cabinet Office and since 2013, as a partially privatised venture. He currently is a visiting professor at King's College London. He is one of the 56 individuals named by the UK government as contributing to the

Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is a British Government body that advises central government in emergencies. It is usually chaired by the United Kingdom's Chief Scientific Adviser, currently Sir Patrick Vallance. Speciali ...

in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, focusing on behavioural changes such as increased handwashing. On 11 March 2020 he gave an interview to the BBC on the importance of shielding vulnerable people during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

until

herd immunity Herd immunity (also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity, or mass immunity) is a form of indirect protection that applies only to contagious diseases. It occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population has become im ...

had been achieved.

Honours

In 2016, Halpern was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...

(FAcSS). He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for public service.

Selected works

He has authored or co-authored four books as well as a number of reports: * Social Capital (2005). * Options for Britain (1996 and 2010). * The Hidden Wealth of Nations (2010). * Inside the Nudge Unit (2015) * The MINDSPACE report (Influencing behaviour through public policy), co-author.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpern, David Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Behavioral economists British psychologists Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences 1966 births Academics of the University of Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire