David W. Miller, PhD

David brings an unusual “bilingual” perspective to the classroom and the boardroom. After retiring from 18 years on the faculty of Princeton University and directing its Faith & Work Initiative, he accepted an appointment as a Senior Fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry. Before receiving his M.Div. and Ph.D. in ethics and entering academia, he spent 16 years in senior executive positions in international business and finance, including eight years in London.
At Princeton, the nickname of his signature course was, “Business Ethics: Succeeding without Selling Your Soul.” In addition to his oversubscribed classes, ground-breaking research, and public voice, he serves as an advisor to corporate CEOs and senior executives on ethics, values-based leadership, culture, and the role of faith at work. As a thought leader, many C-suite executives seek his counsel, and scholars, non-profits, and the media seek his views. He presented on “A Restoration of Trust?” in Davos and is a regular participant at the Yale CEO Summit. An article in the Wall Street Journal featured his work with one global client referring to him as the “on-call ethicist.”

Prior to academia, David lived and worked in London, England for eight years, as a partner in a private equity firm specializing in international investment management, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Before that he was a senior executive and director of the securities services and global custody division of HSBC Group. He moved to London as the managing director of the European operations of State Street Bank & Trust. He started his career in the U.S., working for IBM for eight years in a variety of sales and marketing management positions. David speaks German, having lived and worked in Germany. He is a graduate of Bucknell University.

After his corporate experience, he entered academia, receiving his M.Div. and a Ph.D. in ethics from Princeton Theological Seminary. He came to Princeton University in 2008 to launch the Faith & Work Initiative, after teaching for five years at Yale Divinity School and Yale School of Management, where he was also the executive director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.

Harvard Business Review called David’s book, God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement (Oxford University Press, 2007), "most thoughtful." His newest book is The 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions: How to Succeed without Selling Your Soul (Princeton University Press, 2026) reframes how leaders and scholars think about and embody values-based
leadership.

Outside of work, David and his wife Karen are active in Multiple Sclerosis advocacy and research. He enjoys tennis, biking, bridge, and his massive collection of vinyl.