David R. Segal is Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Professor of Sociology, and Director of the Center for Research on Military Organization, and faculty affiliate in the Department of Government and Politics, the School of Public Affairs, and the Maryland Population Research Center, at the University of Maryland. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago (1967), and served on the faculty at the University of Michigan (1966-75). Visiting appointments include James K. Pollock Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Bonn (1971), Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution (1981-84), Guest Scientist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (1982-1990), Distinguished Lecturer (1996) and Distinguished Visiting Professor (1988-89) at the United States Military Academy, and S.L.A. Marshall Chair at the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Institute, the Ford Foundation, and the Rose Foundation.

Professor Segal was President of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society (1995-2003) a member of the Research Council of the International Sociological Association (1994-2006), and has served as President of the District of Columbia Sociological Society (1994-95) and of the Research Committee on Armed Forces & Conflict Resolution of the International Sociological Association (1994-98), and as Chair of the Section on War, Peace, and Social Conflict of the American Sociological Association (1991-92).

Professor Segal was elected to the Sociological Research Association in 1982. His professional awards include the Mid-Career Award from the American Society for Public Administration Section on National Security and Defense Administration (1984), the Morris Rosenberg Award from the District of Columbia Sociological Society (1997), the Rpbin Williams Award for Distinguished Contributions to Scholarship, Teaching, and Service from the American Sociological Society Section on Peace, War, and Social Conflict (2000), and the Robert M. Yerkes Award from the American Psychological Association Division of Military Psychology (2001). His teaching awards include the Ruth M. Sinclair Memorial Honors Program Award from the University of Michigan (1970), the Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (1984-85) and the Morris Rosenberg Graduate Mentorship Award from the Department of Sociology (1998 and 2004) at the University of Maryland. In 1991 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Towson University, and he has twice been awarded the Department of the Army Medal for Outstanding Civilian Service (1989 and 2000). His public service includes Special Assistant for Peace Operations to the U.S. Army Chief of Staff (1994-1996), and two terms on the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Army War College.