DAVID GRESS
Lecturer
Historian
Writer
Social commentator
Ph.D. in history		 Foredragsholder
Historiker
Forfatter
Samfundsdebattør
Ph.d. i historie
David Gress has published Gesta Innocentii III: Introduction, Text and Commentary (1981); Peace and Survival: West Germany, the Peace Movement, and European Security (1985); A History of West Germany in two volumes with co-author Dennis L. Bark (1989), French edition 1992 and revised English edition 1993; the internationally recognized From Plato to NATO: The Idea of the West and Its Opponents (1998).  In Danish, he has also published Demokrati eller? (1978); Det bedste guld – en bog om frihed (2005); Velstandens kilder (2007), co-authored Bush’s Amerika (2005), and co-edited the anthology 20 begivenheder der skabte Danmark (2006).  In addition, he has contributed numerous essays, book chapters, and articles on Nordic and international politics, social change, and history.
In 1980-81, Gress directed The European Congress on Freedom and the Future at The European College, Møn, which brought together thinkers and commentators from Europe and the U.S.
David Gress, a true polymath, has always been interested in history and culture from Antiquity to today as well as in contemporary issues such as the political culture of welfare states, the future of democracy, and the recent history of Germany, Spain, and Italy.  He has received various prizes; most recently the Family Prize of SAMFO (a Danish group promoting the nuclear family and the well-being of children).  His book Velstandens kilder, sponsored by CEPOS, in 2008 won the Sir Anthony Fisher Memorial Prize for CEPOS as the best international book promoting understanding and support of the free market economy.
David Gress har udgivet "Demokrati eller?" (1978), "Gesta Innocentii III: Introduction, Text and Commentary," (1981), "Peace and Survival" om den vesttyske fredsbevægelse (1985), "A History of West Germany" i to bind (1989), der også findes i fransk udgave (1992) og ny engelsk udgave (1993), den internationalt anerkendte "From Plato to NATO: The Idea of the West and Its Opponents," (1998), "Det bedste guld -- en bog om frihed" (2005) samt "Velstandens kilder" (2007), ligesom han var redaktør af antologien "20 begivenheder der skabte Danmark" (2006) og medforfatter af "Bushs Amerika" (2005). Desuden har han leveret et utal af artikler og essays om nordisk og international politik, samfundsforhold og historie.
Ledede i 1980-81 The European Congress on Freedom and the Future på Europahøjskolen på Møn, der sammenførte tænkere og kommentatorer fra Europa og USA.
David Gress har altid beskæftiget sig såvel med historie og kultur fra antikken og frem som med aktuelle problemstillinger, herunder velfærdssamfundenes politiske kultur og demokratiets fremtid. Han har modtaget adskillige priser, bl.a. Samfos Børnefamiliepris 2005. Hans bog "Velstandens kilder", sponsoreret af CEPOS, skaffede 2008 CEPOS Sir Anthony Fisher-mindelegatet for den bedste internationale bog, der forklarer og forsvarer den fri markedsøkonomi
Curricululm Vitae  -  David Gress

Dansk
Areas of interest
- European political and intellectual history
- The American Civil War
- Italian and Spanish 20th-century history
- Classical civilization and its heritage
Education
1970-72 Philosophy and Classics, University of Copenhagen
1972-75 Classical Tripos, University of Cambridge
1975-81 Ph D in History, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania
Positions held
1981 Research Fellow, Carlsberg Foundation, Denmark, and Lecturer, University of Copenhagen
1982-83 National Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
1983-84 Maître d’études, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
1984-92 Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
1989-91 Adjunct Professor, Department of History, Stanford University
1990 Visiting Assistant Professor, Odense University, Denmark
1992-95 John M. Olin Professor, Adelphi University
1993-94 Visiting Professor, University of Cambridge, and Visiting Fellow, Gonville and Caius College
1994-2000 Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
1995-2000 Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute and Co-Director of its History Academy
1996-2001 Senior Research Fellow, Danish Institute of International Affairs
1999 Visiting Professor of Political Science, Aarhus University
1999-2001 Associate Professor of Classics, Aarhus University, Denmark
2001-2003 John M. Olin Professor of The History of Civilizations, Boston University
2003-2008 Commentator, Jyllands-Posten
2011 Commentator, Berlingske Tidende
2015-2021 Teacher of history, high school division, The American School in Switzerland
Summary of Research Activities
by Date and Main Subject
1975-79 The medieval papacy, canon law, origins of state sovereignty
1976-78 Marxism, environmentalism, and democracy
1978-79 Marxism, culture, and politics in Italy
1982-85 The West German peace movement of the 1950s and 1980s in the context of European
security policy and West German political culture
1984 Research trip to the Soviet Union
1984-88 Post-1945 West German political history; the origins, ideology, and post-1970 fiscal crisis
of the Scandinavian welfare state; post-1945 French intellectual history
1986 2-month research trip to Germany
1988 Research trips to Germany, France, UK
1990-91 7-month research and teaching stay in Denmark and Germany
1993-94 Cambridge: teaching and research on the idea of the West
1994-96 Completion of book on the West and of study of German foreign policy in historical and ideological context
1995-99 Foreign Policy Research Institute: citizenship and the teaching of history; European political culture and security policy during and after the Cold War
1995-99 Danish Institute of International Affairs: political change in the US; the United Nations; comparative social policy
2001- Fascism, war, and civil war in Italy; the history of freedom in European thought
2003- Causes and evolution of prosperity in free societies
2008- The Spanish Civil War. To see a summary of project click here
2012- The American Civil War (in Danish)
Born 29 January 1953, Copenhagen, Danmark. Nationality U.S. and Danish.
The Danish boarding school Sorø Academy 1970.
Sorø Akademi 1970. 		David and his mother the Danish author Elsa Gress.
David og hans mor forfatteren Elsa Gress.
David's father the biographer and critic R.W.B. Lewis.
Davids far litteraturhistorikeren R.W.B. Lewis.		 David and his stepfather the artist Clifford Wright.
David og hans stedfar Clifford Wright.
Selected presentations (since 1996)
1996 - University of Pennsylvania: “Origins of the Idea of the West”
 - Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center: “German Political Culture”
- Danish Institute of International Affairs: “Italy after the 1996 Elections”
1997 - Heartland Symposium on the Future of the Welfare State, Madison, Wisconsin: “Demographic Challenges to Welfare State Policies”
- History Institute, Foreign Policy Research Institute: “The History of History”
1998 - Danish Institute of International Affairs: “Religious Forces in Global Politics”
- Danish Institute, Rome: “Identity of Western Civilization,” response to panel debate on book From Plato to NATO
- History Institute, Foreign Policy Research Institute: “Multiculturalism in World History: The Greek and Roman Experience”
1999 - Danish Institute, Athens: ”Occidentalism: Is ’the West’ an Ideology?”
- Sorø Akademi, Sorø, Denmark: ”Is Liberalism Victorious?” 
- History Institute, Foreign Policy Research Institute: “The Geopolitics of History: Europe”
- Winchester College, England: ”Late Antiquity and the Origins of the West”
2000 - University of Hull, England: ”Spengler, Curtius, and the German Appropriation of the West after World War I”
- History Institute, Foreign Policy Research Institute: “The Cold War”
2001 - Sorø Akademi, Sorø, Denmark: ”The History of Human Rights”
- Ry Højskole, Ry, Denmark: ”Globalization: Challenge to the Welfare State?”
2002 - “The Geopolitics of Europe.”  Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia
2003 - “The Meaning of Mobility in Western Civilization.”  Bioethics Implications of Globalization Processes conference, National Research Council of Italy, Rome
- “The Post-Atlantic Situation.”   Symposium Im Westen was Neues, Volksbühne, Berlin
2004 Presentations on the U.S. presidential elections to academic and professional groups, Denmark
2005- Presentations on U.S. foreign policy; the welfare state; liberalism; globalization to academic and professional groups, Denmark
2008 “The Legacy of 1968 in the Culture”.  3rd annual Vanenburg Meeting, Madrid
2008 Presentations to seminars and roundtables on the U.S. presidential election
2009 “The Role of Leisure in Contemporary Liberal Societies”.  4th annual Vanenburg Meeting, Budapest
Important Research Grants and Subject
1981 Carlsberg Foundation, Copenhagen: the modern state
1988
- Committee on Security and Disarmament, Copenhagen: US policy toward Europe
- Director of Net Assessment, Department of Defense, Washington, DC: German foreign and security policy
1990-91 German Marshall Fund: political history of West Germany
1992 Committee on Security and Disarmament, Copenhagen: socio-cultural trends in US
1992-94 Director of Net Assessment, Department of Defense, Washington, DC: foreign policy and long-term political and cultural trends in unified Germany
1993-94 Smith Richardson Foundation, New York: the idea of the West
1994 John M. Olin Foundation: the idea of the West
1995 Summer fellowship, Earhart Foundation
1995-98 fellowship at Foreign Policy Research Institute, funded by John M. Olin Foundation, Donner Foundation, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
2001-03 Chair at Boston University partly funded by John M. Olin Foundation
2003 Summer fellowship, Earhart Foundation
2004-05 Jyllands-Postens Fund, Denmark, for research on the history of freedom and the origins of economic growth
Other Professional Activities
1968-88 Translation of nonfiction works from English, German and French to Danish and from Danish to English
1980-81 Organizer, chairman and moderator of the First and Second European Congress on Freedom and the Future, The European College, Stege, Denmark
1985-95 Consulting to staff of US Department of Defense on European political and security developments
1993-94 Advisor to founding board, The College of the Baltic, Aabenraa, Denmark
2004- Member of advisory commission on the future of the welfare state in Denmark chaired by Professor Steen Hildebrandt, Aarhus Business School
2004 Member of the board, Center for Political Studies, Denmark
2004-09 Member of the board, Jyllands-Postens Fond (owner of Jyllands-Posten)
2007-08 Member of the Danish government’s committee to produce a “Canon of Democratic Thought”
Language skills
Bilingual in English and Danish.  Fluent in German, French, Italian, Spanish.  Read Latin and classical Greek.  Reading knowledge of Dutch.  Slight Russian.
Dansk
Faglige interesseområder
- Europæisk politisk kultur og idéhistorie
- Nordisk politisk kultur og velfærdsstaten
- Den amerikanske Borgerkrig
- Den spanske Borgerkrig
- Nyere italiensk historie
- Amerikansk politik
- Den klassiske civilization og dens arv
1953 født i København 29. januar
1970 klassisk-sproglig student, Sorø Akademis Skole
1975 B.A. i klassisk filologi, University of Cambridge, England
1977-78 forskningsophold i Rom
1981 Ph.d. i historie, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, USA
1982-92 seniorforsker, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Californien, USA
1983 gæsteforsker, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris
1987-91 adjungeret professor, Department of History, Stanford University
1992-93 professor, Honors College, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York, USA
1993-94 gæstelektor, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, England
1994-95 professor, Adelphi University
1995-99 seniorforsker, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1996-99 seniorforsker, Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Institut
1999-2001 lektor, klassisk filologi, Aarhus Universitet
2001-03 professor i kulturernes historie, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2003-09 kommentator, Jyllands-Posten
2003-05 medlem af den stiftende bestyrelse, Center for Politiske Studier (CEPOS)
2007-09 medlem af Styrelsen for Jyllands-Postens Fond
2007-08 medlem af regeringens udvalg for en demokratikanon
2011- kommentator, Berlingske Tidende
2015-2021 underviser i historie, The American School in Switzerland
For fortegnelse over publikationer, klik her
Den amerikanske Borgerkrig
 klik her for disposition
Den spanske Borgerkrig
 klik her for disposition
Sproglige færdigheder
Tosproget i dansk og engelsk.  Flydende tysk, fransk, italiensk, spansk. Læser hollandsk, latin og oldgræsk.
Foredrag
- Symbolikken i Tolkiens
forfatterskab		 - Demokratiets kanon og
det athenske demokrati
- Alexis de Tocqueville - Den spanske Borgerkrig
- Velstandens kilder - Den amerikanske Borgerkrig
- Begrebet frihed - USA mellem drøm og
virkelighed
- Italien under Anden Verdenskrig
Lecture topics
- Symbolism in the work of
J.R.R. Tolkien		 - Liberty and democracy in
Alexis de Tocqueville
- The sources of prosperity - The Spanish Civil War
- Democracy ancient and modern - The American Civil War
- The idea of freedom - USA between dream and reality
- Italy in World War II