David Gibson

David Gibson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. He specializes in social interaction, language, deliberation, decision making, social networks, theory, and the social organization of secrecy and deception. Gibson holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University (1999) and previously taught at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton before joining Notre Dame in 2013.

• Education: Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University (1999)

His research examines interaction in high-stakes contexts such as corporate meetings, Pentagon press conferences, Supreme Court arguments, and National Security Council deliberations. He is renowned for analyzing how secrecy and deception operate within social systems, particularly in institutional settings. His 2012 book Talk at the Brink: Deliberation and Decision during the Cuban Missile Crisis won the 2013 Melvin Pollner Prize. His work appears in leading journals including the American Journal of Sociology and Sociological Theory.

Key themes in his recent articles include Supreme Court oral argument dynamics, autism diagnosis interactions, jury deliberation processes, and geopolitical decision-making rhetoric. His research bridges micro-sociological analysis with macro-social phenomena, revealing how small-scale interactions shape institutional outcomes.

• Awards: 2013 Melvin Pollner Prize (Ethnomethodology & Conversation Analysis)

Gibson’s advising and grant activities remain unspecified in the provided materials, but his research has consistently focused on institutional communication and secrecy mechanisms. He maintains active collaborations in sociological theory and historical discourse analysis.