Dave Waterhouse

Dave provides strategic and administrative leadership to the Ginsberg Center which includes work with staff, students, and Ginsberg programs. His primary goals focus on building sustainable infrastructure for equitable campus-community partnerships, staff development, increasing student learning, and building authentic relationships with community partners that lead to positive results.

Dave is involved on campus as a member of the Student Life Leadership Assembly, the Council on Civic Engagement, and as a lead on the Connecting Michigan initiative. He serves and has served on a variety of Student Life and University-wide committees, including as a planning lead for Student Life's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work; as collective impact lead for Community Engagement; and as a lead in the Community Engagement Consortium between U-M, MSU, and WSU, as well as tri-campus collaborations with UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn. Dave is also active in the Ann Arbor community in areas of youth development, the arts, and food access and security.

Dave started his career at the Ginsberg Center working with SERVE, before moving to the public school classroom, teaching middle school Language Arts and Social Studies. He returned to the University in 2006 as the Ginsberg Center’s Director of Student Initiatives, and became the Associate Director of the Ginsberg Center in 2013. Dave earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Language with a minor in history from the University of Michigan. He holds a Master of Arts degree in the Social Foundations of Education from Eastern Michigan University.

Some of Dave’s hobbies include painting, fishing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. He loves to read, spend time with his family, cook, and attend local music and arts events.

Dave is proud to be a part of efforts to refocus how the university works with community partners by creating systems and tools to increase collaboration between institutions both within and beyond the University of Michigan. He is driven by his recognition that members of U-M have a responsibility to engage as citizens in a diverse democracy and to contribute to the vitality of our local communities.