David Davidson

David DavidsonPhotograph by Stu Rosner

Times have changed since David Davidson started in food service in 1982, managing a Somerville McDonald’s. Food ethics have become a cultural flashpoint, making his role more complex and more central to Harvard’s perceived values. His team at Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS), where he is managing director, works to make meals more “plant-forward”: “Now, I wouldn’t characterize myself as a vegetarian. Tofu—I could take it or leave it. But last week I had a tofu burger, and I was like, ‘Wow!’” he enthuses. “We’re slowly going to change people’s minds about what they should be eating. We’re meeting with the Lentil Board [Saskatchewan Pulse Growers] to learn about different ways to use lentils.” At the same time: “We are not the food police! Our job is to provide options. The football players come in and get their 12 chicken breasts.” Raised on the North Shore (his parents worked alternating shifts at General Electric), Davidson started at HUDS in 1991, as manager of the Dudley House Café. After stints at Yale, the Back Bay Restaurant Group, and Phillips Exeter, he missed Harvard. Exeter was small: “We were feeding 600 or 700 kids.” In 2007, he returned to HUDS, where he oversees 650 staff members who deliver 27,000 meals per day—and is looking to expand. He’s bidding on the cafés at Harvard Medical School, currently run by an outside contractor. “Our entry-level dishwashers start at $21.89 an hour—I’m very proud of that. But we’re competing with very low labor costs in the service industry,” he says. How does he convince clients to choose HUDS? “I’m exceptionally good at developing relationships. I always say, ‘You’re Harvard, I’m Harvard, and we’re going to do everything possible to achieve your mission.’” 

Read more articles by: Marina N. Bolotnikova

You might also like

Reparations as Public Health

A Harvard forum on the racial health gap

Unionizing Harvard Academic Workers

Pay, child care, workplace protections at issue 

Should AI Be Scaled Down?

The case for maximizing AI models’ efficiency—not size

Most popular

AWOL from Academics

Behind students' increasing pull toward extracurriculars

Why Americans Love to Hate Harvard

The president emeritus on elite universities’ academic accomplishments—and a rising tide of antagonism

The Broken Social Contract

Danielle Allen on America’s broken social contract

More to explore

Darker Days

The current disquiets compared to Harvard’s Vietnam-era traumas

Making Space

The natural history of Junko Yamamoto’s art and architecture

Spellbound on Stage

Actor and young adult novelist Aislinn Brophy