David A. Nadler, a member of the George Washington University’s Board of Trustees, died Thursday night, university officials announced Friday during a meeting of the GW Board of Trustees.
Dr. Nadler, B.A. ’70, had served on the board since 2011 and was a member of the committees on academic affairs, finance and audit, and development and alumni relations. He also was chairman emeritus of the board of advisors for the Elliott School of International Affairs, on which he had served since 2003.
“I just want to say, on behalf of all of us in the university administration, how saddened we are by the loss of this very great friend of the university and someone who many of us worked closely with,” said George Washington President Steven Knapp. “He was an adviser to me personally, and to the provost… I’m tremendously saddened by the turn of events. It’s a real loss to the entire George Washington University family.”
Nelson A. Carbonell, chair of the GW Board of Trustees, said that Mr. Nadler was a dedicated trustee who played a key role in the development of the university’s strategic plan, Vision 2021.
“The university expresses…its deep appreciation and gratitude for [Dr. Nadler’s] distinguished years of service and for his ongoing dedication and commitment to the Board of Trustees,” Mr. Carbonell read from a resolution honoring Dr. Nadler, which was adopted at the board’s Friday meeting.
The meeting also acknowledged Dr. Nadler’s passing with a moment of silence at the beginning of its open session.
“David Nadler was an unbelievable person and a great friend and counselor to me, and I know to many of us on the board,” Mr. Carbonell said. “We’ll miss him dearly.”
Dr. Nadler was principal and co-founder of Nadler Advisory Services, a consulting firm that advises boards of directors, CEOs and executive teams on issues of leadership, governance and team effectiveness. He founded the company after his retirement in late 2013 as vice chairman of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., a global professional services firm.
In 2012, he pledged $1 million to the Elliott School of International Affairs. The gift created the Nadler Endowment Fund in Leadership and Governance, which expanded the school’s teaching, research and policy programs related to leadership and governance in the global arena.
Michael E. Brown, dean of Elliott School, said at the time that the gift would “substantially enhance the Elliott School’s work on leadership and governance.”
Dr. Nadler wrote numerous articles and book chapters, authoring and editing 16 books on organization change, corporate governance, organization design and executive teams. In 2004, he was featured on the cover of Consulting Magazine when he was named as one of the nation’s 25 most influential consultants. From 2009 through 2012 he was listed in the National Association of Corporate Directors’ “Directorship 100” as one of the most influential people in the boardroom, and in 2013 was inducted into the NACD Directorship Corporate Governance Hall of Fame.
He received a B.A. in international affairs from GW, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan. In addition to his service on GW’s board, he was vice president of the board of trustees of Prep for Prep and was a member of the board of directors of the New York City Ballet.