As assistant vice president for university economic engagement at Indiana University, David Gard is primarily responsible for implementing IU’s statewide economic development strategy through collaboration across the university’s seven campuses. He created, manages, and presides over the IU Council for Regional Engagement and Economic Development (CREED), which extends and leverages the university’s resources and expertise to enhance economic engagement in areas of entrepreneurship and innovation, talent development, and quality of place.

Working in the Office of the Vice President for Government Relations and Economic Engagement, Gard led the university’s comprehensive efforts that culminated in IU being designated as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). He currently serves on the executive committee of the APLU’s national Commission on Economic and Community Engagement and completed a fellowship with the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership through Georgetown University and Arizona State University.

Gard’s broad background combines experience in the public and private sectors. Previously, he served with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) as deputy director of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and of Indiana’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. He is also a former venture development manager with Duke Energy and a former corporate trust officer with Fifth Third Bank. He began his career as a U.S. Navy officer serving in support of Operation Desert Storm. Gard earned both his BS and MBA degrees from IU’s Kelley School of Business.