There is not enough space to document all the ways Dave’s work as a professor of Industrial Engineering impacted human experience. Whether designing computer-based predictive models for suicide prevention in the late 1960s, creating technology to improve the lives of patients and their families facing health crises, or developing process improvement systems to help behavioral health agencies deliver quality care, his guiding force was the same: keeping the human individual at the center of the work.
In a 2020 interview, when the Department of Industrial Engineering’s Chair was named in his honor, Dave said, “It’s just so darn important we keep in mind that there are people out there who are suffering, who we need to be helping. We just have to remember who we’re trying to help.”
That belief shaped not only what Dave studied, but what he built. He founded the Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies and co-founded the Institute for Healthcare Improvement—work rooted in the idea that better systems should always amount to higher quality, more human, care. Dave was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American College of Medical Informatics, recognition that reflected the impact of a career guided by that same principle. His legacy is captured well in two pieces—one from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, “Using Technology with a Fundamental Focus on the Patient” and another from the UW-Madison College of Engineering, “New endowed ISyE chair honors health systems engineering pioneer”.
Dave published over 270 reviewed publications including seven books. His research interests focused on developing systems engineering tools to support sustainable individual and organizational improvement. He served on the National Advisory Council, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, and was part of the National Academy of Engineering and NIH Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health Study Section. He was recognized with the 2011 Translational Health Communication Scholar Award: DC Health Communication Conference; 2009 Award of Merit: University of Michigan College of Engineering; 2006 Blanket of Honor: Native American Connection; 2000 Robert A. Ratner Professorship in Industrial Engineering; and 1999 Instructor of the Year Award–Industrial Engineering Student Award.
Dave’s impact has been immeasurable, and he will be deeply missed by all who had the opportunity to work with him.