British psychologist
Halpern at Chatham House in June 2014
David Solomon Halpern [ 1] CBE FAcSS (born June 1966[ 1] ) is a British civil servant, who founded the Behavioural Insights Team (unofficially known as the Nudge Unit). The Behavioural Insights Team is an organisation spun out of the UK Cabinet Office , which applies a deep understanding of human behaviour and evidence-led problem solving to improve government, public policy and public services.
Education
Halpern attended King's School, Rochester , before attending Christ's College , University of Cambridge achieving a 1st[ 2] in natural Sciences specialising in experimental psychology . He then went on to complete a PhD in social and political sciences, also at St John's College, Cambridge .[ 3]
Career
Halpern was a research fellow at the Policy Studies Institute (1991–94), a Nuffield College, Oxford prize research fellow (1993–96) and a lecturer in social human sciences at the University of Cambridge (1996–2001).[ 3]
From 2001 to 2007 Halpern was chief analyst in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit . He was then director of the Institute for Government from 2008 to 2010, where he remains a senior fellow.
Between 2010 and 2022, Halpern was CEO of the Behavioural Insights Team. As of 2024, he supports BIT as President Emeritus.[ 4] [ 3] [ 5]
He currently is a visiting professor at King's College London .[ 6]
Halpern is one of the 56 individuals named by the UK government as contributing to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom , focusing on behavioural changes such as increased handwashing.[ 7] On 11 March 2020 he gave an interview to the BBC on the importance of shielding vulnerable people during the COVID-19 pandemic until herd immunity had been achieved.[ 8]
In a July 2023 interview with The Daily Telegraph , he proposed that through his unit's measures the public were now well "drilled" for future emergencies, going on to suggest that using fear was a useful tool "if you think people are wrongly calibrated" . [ 9]
Honours
In 2016, Halpern was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).[ 10]
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for public service.[ 11]
Selected works
He has authored or co-authored four books as well as a number of reports:
Social Capital (2005).[ 3]
Options for Britain (1996 and 2010).[ 3] [ 12]
The Hidden Wealth of Nations (2010).[ 3]
Inside the Nudge Unit (2015) [ 13]
The MINDSPACE report (Influencing behaviour through public policy), co-author.[ 14]
References
International National Other