David Cooperrider

David Cooperrider (born July 14, 1954), is the Fairmount Minerals Chair and Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and Faculty Director at the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at Case.

Cooperrider also teaches at University of Pennsylvania as well as Claremont University, where he is The Peter F. Drucker Distinguished Fellow.

Cooperrider is the founder, together with Suresh Srivastva, of the theory of Appreciative Inquiry.

Cooperrider grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, and later completed his undergraduate studies at Augustana College in 1976.

His work at Case Western Reserve University in the early 1980s on Appreciative Inquiry anticipated and helped bring about today's positive psychology movement, strengths-based leadership models, and positive organizational scholarship (POS).

He earned a Master's of Science at Sir George Williams University in 1983 and his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in 1985.

Cooperrider's impact on the fields of leadership, human development and management theory is significant.

Cooperrider's original doctoral dissertation "Appreciative Inquiry Into Organizational Life" has been cited as “the first, and as yet, the best articulation of the theory and vision of appreciative inquiry.” It was completed and defended in 1985.

His original article on Appreciative Inquiry (with Suresh Srivastva) in 1987, which appeared in the series Research in Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 1, has become an important source for its field since publication.

Cooperrider's writings include:

Cooperrider lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio with his wife Nancy, an artist.

His son Matt is a wind energy consultant, his daughter Hannah is an interior designer, and his eldest son Daniel is a minister at a United Church of Christ congregation in New England.

Kim S. Cameron, Robert Quinn and Jane Dutton called Appreciative Inquiry “a pillar.” Management scholar Robert Quinn, in a 2000 book Change the World declared that “Appreciative Inquiry is revolutionizing the field of organization development.”

Nobel Laureate Kofi Annan, likewise, wrote these words after calling upon David Cooperrider as an advisor and using Appreciative Inquiry to bring over 500 CEO's into a world summit at the United Nations: “Without your innovative methodology of Appreciative Inquiry, it would have been very difficult, perhaps even impossible, to constructively engage so many leaders of business, civil society, and government.” A UN Leaders report for the Global Compact's 8,000 corporations said “Appreciative Inquiry is the best large group method in the world today.”

All of this also affected the experiential learning field, including his most recent work focused on "Flourishing Organizations."

In 2000, for his contribution to organizational learning and development, Cooperrider was given the "Distinguished Contribution Award to Workplace Performance and Learning" by the American Society for Training and Development.

Then, in 2004, for his world inquiry with Ron Fry into Business as an Agent of World Benefit, the Aspen Institute gave him the “Faculty Pioneer Award for Impact” in the domain of sustainable development.

That work, including his book with Jane Dutton on The Organization Dimensions of Global Change: No Limits to Cooperation, has given birth to two major institutions and endowments: The Fowler Center for Sustainable Value and the ongoing global forum series hosted by Case Western Reserve University in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact and Academy of Management titled “The Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit.”

According to Ode Magazine, "In the field of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Cooperrider leads the movement towards a more sustainable future, ...".

Cooperrider has published numerous books and authored more than 60 articles and book chapters.

His book with Diana Whitney Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change has been a best-seller with multiple printings.