“As Polis continues to focus our work around the theme of ‘Discourse for Democracy’ and efforts to replace the polarization and division on our political landscape with transformative conversations that can help us move beyond our differences to build a stronger democracy, we are extremely privileged to have the opportunity to learn from Congressman Price and his legacy of service. Throughout his entire career, he has modeled the power of listening, collaborative problem solving, and using knowledge in service to society. It gives us great honor to have Congressman Price among this year’s cohort of Polis Director’s Fellows.”
– Dr. Deondra Rose, Director of Polis: Center for Politics
About David Price
David E. Price represented North Carolina’s Fourth District, the Research Triangle region, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987-94 and 1997-2022. He is a Polis Distinguished Fellow at the Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, and a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Duke. He currently serves on the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the state board of NC Community Colleges.
A member of the House Appropriations Committee, Price chaired the subcommittees on Homeland Security (2007-10) and Transportation – Housing and Urban Development (2019-22). He particularly focused on investments in mass transit and passenger rail and on enhanced funding for housing for the elderly and people with disabilities, protecting and improving manufactured housing communities, and the Choice Neighborhoods program.
Price also chaired the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), a bipartisan commission he initiated to work peer-to-peer to support and strengthen representative institutions in emerging democracies. He worked extensively with Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, N. Macedonia, Kosovo, Mongolia, Indonesia, Kenya, Tunisia, and Peru, among other partner countries.
Price grew up in Erwin, Tennessee, and was educated at Mars Hill College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he held a Morehead-Cain scholarship. He obtained a Bachelor of Divinity degree and a Ph.D. in political science at Yale University. He taught four years at Yale before coming to Duke in 1973, where he held a joint appointment in political science and public policy. He is the author of four books and numerous articles on American politics and institutions, political thought, ethics, and foreign affairs, including The Congressional Experience, which he has taken through four editions.
Price lives in Chapel Hill. He and his late wife Lisa are the parents of two children, Karen and Michael, and three grandchildren.
