Rockefeller Center Senior Profile: David Eads '14

This past spring, The Rockefeller Center encouraged its outgoing seniors to reflect on their experiences at Dartmouth as part of a series called Rocky and Me.

"In essence, The Rockefeller Center and my public policy studies have helped center my identity in the upper valley, something that is fleeting but paramount to achieving a ‘true’ Dartmouth experience." --David Eads '14

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences


When I came to Dartmouth, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. I knew that college was a time to grow, learn, mature, explore, and experience as many things as possible. However, that did not help me fill in those blank spaces called ‘major’ and ‘minor’. So I jumped right in, taking Public Policy 5: Introduction to Public Policy with Professor Shaiko during Winter Term of my freshman year. At this point, I was uncertain as to whether or not I wanted to declare a Public Policy minor, but I was certain that I enjoyed the curriculum and the learning process that existed within The Rockefeller Center. As an undergraduate, you are able to apply conceptual frameworks to real-world circumstances, something that I felt not many other disciplines fully committed to. After drawing on my experiences in several of the lower and mid-level public policy courses, I was able to earn an internship at a policy think-tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in my hometown of Austin, Texas.

After returning to campus, I was all-in for the Public Policy Minor and enrolled in Public Policy 45: Introduction to Public Policy Research, which allowed me to deepen my understanding of the public policy process as well integrate my studies with real-world events occurring in the immediate surroundings—namely the state governments of New Hampshire and Vermont. I also enrolled in the Management Leadership and Development Program (MLDP) through The Rockefeller Center where I was able to critically analyze, hone, practice, and develop a broad scope of professional and leadership skills—everything from eye contact and body language to presentation formats and appropriate attire.

At this point, I began working in the Policy Research Shop (PRS) and spent my time working on two main projects, one for the Executive Council of New Hampshire where we assessed the impact of the mortgage crisis and its subsequent settlement on

New Hampshire's mortgage holders (PDF)

and one for the New Hampshire Commission on Innovation, Efficiency, and Transparency where we used a customer-relationship mapping (CRM) perspective on how the state government of New Hampshire interacts with its ‘customers’, its

constituents (PDF).

Through these projects, I developed several skills I likely never otherwise would have and gained exposure and experience to applied public policy research unlike any other research opportunity available to me as an undergraduate. However, most importantly, these projects strengthened the awareness of the issues and opportunities that existed in the community I decided to attend college in, a community which at first seemed half the world away from Austin, Texas. In essence, The Rockefeller Center and my public policy studies have helped center my identity in the upper valley, something that is fleeting but paramount to achieving a ‘true’ Dartmouth experience.

David Eads '14 graduated this past spring from Dartmouth. He attended Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas. Eads majored in Economics with concentrations in finance and international trade as well as minored in Public Policy with a focus on economic policy. On campus, Eads was involved with the Dartmouth Quantitative Finance Society, The Rockefeller Center’s Management Leadership Development Program, Beta Alpha Omega fraternity. He also served as the captain of the Dartmouth Men’s Club Basketball team. In his terms away from campus, Eads interned in a variety of different roles. He worked as a research analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, Texas, as a corporate development analyst for EverBank in Jacksonville, Florida, as an investment banking analyst for Croft & Bender in Atlanta, Georgia, and as a research analyst for Egon Zehnder in Dallas, Texas. Next year, Eads will be working in the financial development program for CareFusion, a medical device manufacturing company headquartered in San Diego, California.