David J. Ward is the chief executive officer and founder of NorthStar Consulting, LLC, of Madison and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He had a 32-year career with the University of Wisconsin (UW), and was a professor of finance on campuses at Green Bay and Oshkosh. He also served six years as the senior vice president and chief academic officer for the University of Wisconsin System. His career in university administration included interim chancellor positions at both UW Green Bay and UW Oshkosh. Ward founded NorthStar Economics in 2000 and NorthStar Consulting, LLC, in 2012. At NorthStar Economics, he was a primary author of Vision 2020, produced for the Wisconsin Technology Council. He has also been the principal investigator on NorthStar projects in Wisconsin, Wyoming, New Hampshire and Kentucky. His current work as co-chair of the UW System International Economic Development Task Force is aimed at engaging the UW system campuses in international economic development, with a primary focus on how universities might help with attracting foreign direct investment.

Ward is on the boards of the WiSys Technology Foundation, the Ministry Door County Medical Center, the Wisconsin Angel Network Advisory Board and the Door County Economic Development Corporation. He is an active angel investor, and is a founding member of the Origin Investment Group in La Crosse and Angels on the Water in Oshkosh. Ward received his B.B.A., M.B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.