David Hanson is the founder and senior partner of Winthrop & Associates, LLC, a consultancy focused on financial and operational sustainability, as well as risk management for colleges and independent schools.  Prior to founding this firm, Hanson served as the chief operating officer for the Boston office of a global non-profit foundation where he oversaw operations, finance, accounting, investment management, IT, HR and facilities functions.  Prior to joining the foundation, Dr. Hanson served Phillips Exeter Academy as its chief financial officer.  He had responsibility for all financial affairs, HR, IT, risk management and legal affairs, as well as various operating departments (e.g., inn, bookstore, dining services, child care center).

Prior to returning to New England, Hanson served Virginia Commonwealth University, first as the vice president for finance and administration and then as senior vice president and chief operating officer.  Hanson spent nearly a decade at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, where he served as the associate vice president for administration and special assistant to the executive vice president for finance and administration.  In these dual roles, he launched and managed nationally recognized programs and initiatives.  He also served as Emory’s director of executive MBA admissions, where he coordinated worldwide marketing strategies and managed communications, admissions, and recruitment for two globally-ranked executive MBA programs.

Before his tenure at Emory, Hanson gained nearly a decade of experience in the legal field, including clerking for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia and serving as a federal staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, GA.  Hanson is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and graduated from the Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia.  He served for four years as an assistant counsel and equal employment opportunity counselor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and retired from the U.S. Army with an honorable discharge as a captain (O-3).  He was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal and a Chief Counsel’s Commitment to Excellence award at the completion of his service.  Hanson currently serves as a peer reviewer for the Fulbright Specialist Program for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and World Learning.  He completed a Fulbright Specialist Program grant in Pakistan and a U.S. State Department International Speakers Bureau grant in Croatia.  He also completed a second Fulbright Special Program grant at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. 

Hanson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Tampa’s Sykes College of Business, and earned a J.D. from Ohio Northern University with high distinction as his class valedictorian.  He holds master’s degrees in education and business from the University of Florida and Emory University, respectively, and earned his doctorate in education management from the University of Pennsylvania, where he finished with distinction in his dissertation defense.  He has taught classes and given presentations at universities across the globe, and his articles have appeared in publications like NASPA's Net Impact Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and the University of Tampa Journal.  He currently volunteers for various nonprofit organizations and runs marathons to raise money for those organizations.