David Davenport is counselor to the director and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He specializes in international law and treaties, constitutional federalism, and American politics and law.

Davenport is a columnist for Forbes.com and delivers regular radio commentaries on the Salem Radio Network and Townhall.com (where he is a contributing editor). He has authored chapters in Hoover Press books on values in a free society and legal threats to American values, and is currently coauthoring a book on the roots of modern American conservatism. He has also authored articles in Policy Review on "The New Diplomacy" and "The Politics of Literacy," and has been a regular columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service and the San Francisco Chronicle. Davenport is a popular public speaker, currently serving as a world affairs lecturer for Crystal Cruises.

Davenport is the former president of Pepperdine University (1985–2000). Under his leadership, the University experienced significant growth in quality and reputation. Davenport cofounded Common Sense California and the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership. He is active in efforts to reform governance in California, having served as a member of Governor Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review Commission and as a board member of California Forward. Davenport is a member of several corporate and nonprofit boards as well.

Davenport earned a B.A. with distinction in international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and earned national and international awards in moot court competitions.

Conservative, Think Tanks, Hoover Institute, Policy,