David Demarest has enjoyed a distinguished career in communications and public affairs in both the private and public sector.

From 1989 to 1992, he served as White House communications director for former President George H.W. Bush, following his stint as communications director in Vice President Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign. During the Reagan administration, he was assistant US trade representative for public, intergovernmental, and private sector affairs and assistant secretary of labor for public and intergovernmental affairs.

In the private sector, Demarest has served as executive vice president for global corporate relations at Visa International and as executive vice president and director of corporate communications at Bank of America. His firm, AspenLine Reputation Strategies, founded in 2003, provides counsel and training for organizations regarding their reputation management challenges.

In 2005, Demarest joined Stanford University as vice president of public affairs, retiring in March 2019 after 14 years. In that role, he oversaw the university’s federal, state, and local government relations, and community affairs as well as university communications for a decade. He continues to teach at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. His course, “Political Communications: How Leaders Become Leaders,” is now in its 16th year, and he is a frequent lecturer in Stanford’s Executive Education offerings. In addition, he continues to teach “Making Sense of Strategy,” a popular undergraduate course he created in 2011.

Demarest is a past chair of The Public Relations Seminar and of the Public Affairs Council. He currently serves on the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum advisory council.