David Solomon Halpern (born June 1966) is a British psychologist and civil servant, who founded the

Behavioural Insights Team The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), also known unofficially as the "Nudge Unit", is a UK-based global social purpose organisation that generates and applies behavioural insights to inform policy and improve public services, following nudge th ...

(unofficially known as the Nudge Unit). The Behavioural Insights Team is an organisation spun out of the UK

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

, which applies a deep understanding of human behaviour and evidence-led problem solving to improve government, public policy and public services.

Education

Halpern attended

King's School, Rochester The King's School, Rochester, is a private co-educational all through day and boarding school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral. The school claims to be the second oldest c ...

, before attending Christ's College,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

achieving a 1st in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

specialising in

experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

. He then went on to complete a PhD in social and political sciences, also at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Career

Halpern was a research fellow at the

Policy Studies Institute The Policy Studies Institute (PSI) is a British think-tank and research institute. PSI began in 1931 as Political and Economic Planning and became the Policy Studies Institute in 1978 on its merger with the Centre for Studies in Social Policy (est ...

(1991–94), a

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

prize research fellow (1993–96) and a lecturer in social human sciences at the

(1996–2001). From 2001 to 2007, Halpern was chief analyst in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. He was then director of the

Institute for Government The Institute for Government (IfG) is a British independent think tank which aims to improve government effectiveness through research and analysis. Based at 2 Carlton Gardens in central London and founded as a charity in 2008, it was initiall ...

from 2008 to 2010, where he remains a senior fellow. Between 2010 and 2022, Halpern was CEO of the Behavioural Insights Team. As of 2024, he supports BIT as President Emeritus. He currently is a visiting professor at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. Halpern is one of the 56 individuals named by the UK government as contributing to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

, focusing on behavioural changes such as increased handwashing. On 11 March 2020 he gave an interview to the BBC on the importance of shielding vulnerable people during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

until

herd immunity Herd immunity (also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity, or mass immunity) is a form of indirect protection that applies only to contagious diseases. It occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population has become i ...

had been achieved. In a July 2023 interview with

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

, he proposed that through his unit's measures the public were now well ''"drilled"'' for future emergencies, going on to suggest that using fear was a useful tool ''"if you think people are wrongly calibrated"''.

Honours

In 2016, Halpern was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used t ...

(FAcSS). He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for public service.

Selected works

He has authored or co-authored four books as well as a number of reports: * Social Capital (2005). * Options for Britain (1996 and 2010). * The Hidden Wealth of Nations (2010). * Inside the Nudge Unit (2015) * The MINDSPACE report (Influencing behaviour through public policy), co-author.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpern, David Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Behavioral economists 21st-century British psychologists Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences 1966 births Academics of the University of Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British non-fiction writers Academics of King's College London