David Halpern (psychologist)

David Halpern, FAcSS is a British psychologist and civil servant, heading the Behavioural Insights Team (unofficially known as the Nudge Unit) spun out from the Cabinet Office.

Halpern attended King's School, Rochester, before attending St John's College, University of Cambridge to read 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.

Since October 2010 Halpern has been director of the Behavioural Insights Team, initially as part of the Cabinet Office and since 2013, as a partially privatised venture. Prior to that he was director of the Institute for Government from 2008–10, where he is a senior fellow. from 2001-07 he was chief analyst in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.

Prior to work in government, Halpern was a lecturer in social human sciences at the University of Cambridge (1996-2001), a Nuffield College, Oxford prize research fellow (1993–96), and a research fellow at the Policy Studies Institute (1991–94). He currently is a visiting professor at King's College London.

In 2016, Halpern was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).

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