David Atkinson
David Atkinson is the founder of Atkinson & Company in Princeton, New Jersey. He retired in 1992 as general partner of Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd, a Philadelphia-based investment counseling firm. He held a number of previous positions in the financial industry, including vice president in the research department of Morgan Stanley, cofounder of Franklin Capital Investors, and manager of the Scudder Development Fund at Scudder, Stevens & Clark.
Atkinson was an officer in the U.S. Navy for two years, after graduating with a BS from Cornell in 1960. He earned an MBA in 1964 from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Atkinson has been an important adviser to Cornell University. As a member of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Advisory Council, he chaired the Environmental Sustainability and Development Task Force that broadened Cornell’s efforts in sustainability. A life member of the Cornell University Council, he was recently named a presidential councilor, the highest honor the university bestows.
A prolific investor with professional and personal interests in energy and the environment, Atkinson made a major contribution to sustainability when, in 2007, he provided seed money to create Cornell’s Center for a Sustainable Future, now the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. His support has had a galvanizing impact at Cornell, funding teams of researchers from across the campus and advancing solutions in such diverse areas as wind energy, food systems, human health and the environment, and the economic consequences of climate change.