David Madden is a social entrepreneur and education innovator best known for being the founder and Executive Director of International Academic Competitions (IAC), an organization serving over 100,000 students in 50+ countries.
Through his work with IAC, David has founded the International History Olympiad, the International Geography Championships, the National Science Bee, and over 30 other competitions. In 2021, he launched the National Environmental Science Exam as a benefit project for the Rainforest Alliance. The Rainforest Alliance is also a beneficiary organization from the National Ornithology Exam and the Jeopardy! Charity Games at IAC’s annual US National Championships, at which over 3000 students compete. In 2024, David created and directed the inaugural International Environmental Science Olympiad (IESO) in Puerto Rico, which featured numerous events promoting rainforest education.
He received his Bachelor’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University and was a Rotary Scholar in Germany where he earned his Master’s in International Relations at the Freie Universität Berlin. In 2007, he spent seven months hiking from Canada to Key West as a fundraiser for the Fisher House Foundation, a charity serving veterans and their families. He is also the co-author of the catalogue raisonné for the American abstract artist Richard Anuszkiewicz, a 19-day champion on the quiz show Jeopardy! in 2005, and a co-champion of the Jeopardy! All-Star Games tournament in 2019.
David lives in Montpelier, Vermont, but spends most of his time traveling in support of his work with IAC and the Rainforest Alliance. He has specific interests in bird conservation and collaboration with indigenous rainforest communities.