David Halpern (psychologist) explained

David Solomon Halpern^[1] (born June 1966) is a British civil servant, heading the Behavioural Insights Team (unofficially known as the Nudge Unit) spun out from the Cabinet Office.^[2]

Education

Halpern attended King's School, Rochester, before attending Christ's College, University of Cambridge achieving a 1st^[3] in natural Sciences specialising in experimental psychology. He then went on to complete a PhD in social and political sciences, also at St John's College, Cambridge.

Career

Halpern was a research fellow at the Policy Studies Institute (1991–94), a Nuffield College, Oxford prize research fellow (1993–96) and a lecturer in social human sciences at the University of Cambridge (1996–2001).

From 2001 to 2007 Halpern was chief analyst in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. He was then director of the Institute for Government from 2008 to 2010, where he remains a senior fellow.

Since October 2010 Halpern has been director of the Behavioural Insights Team, initially as part of the Cabinet Office and since 2013, as a partially privatised venture.^{[4] [5]}

He currently is a visiting professor at King's College London.^[6]

He is one of the 56 individuals named by the UK government as contributing to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, focusing on behavioural changes such as increased handwashing.^[7] On 11 March 2020 he gave an interview to the BBC on the importance of shielding vulnerable people during the COVID-19 pandemic until herd immunity had been achieved.^[8]

In a July 2023 interview with The Daily Telegraph, he proposed that through his unit's measures the public were now well "drilled" for future emergencies, going on to suggest that using fear was a useful tool "if you think people are wrongly calibrated". ^[9]

Honours

In 2016, Halpern was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).^[10]

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for public service.

Selected works

He has authored or co-authored four books as well as a number of reports:

• Social Capital (2005).
• Options for Britain (1996 and 2010).^[11]
• The Hidden Wealth of Nations (2010).
• Inside the Nudge Unit (2015) ^[12]
• The MINDSPACE report (Influencing behaviour through public policy), co-author.^[13]

Notes and References

1. Web site: BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS Ltd - Officers (Free information from Companies House).
2. Web site: David Halpern: 'We try to avoid legislation and ordering' . Guardian . 5 February 2013 . 27 July 2014 . Benjamin, Alison.
3. Web site: David Halpern . LinkedIn.
4. Web site: Whitehall 'Nudge unit' to be part privatised . BBC . 1 May 2013 . 27 July 2014.
5. Web site: Institute for Government – our people . Institute for Government . 27 July 2014.
6. Web site: King's College London Halpern . 15 July 2021.
7. News: Keep Calm and Wash Your Hands: Britain's Strategy to Beat Virus. Bloomberg News. 11 March 2020. Hutton. Robert. 12 March 2020.
8. News: Freeman . Lawrence . The real reason the UK government pursued "herd immunity" – and why it was abandoned . 20 April 2020 . www.newstatesman.com . New Statesman . 1 APRIL 2020 . NS Media Group . en.
9. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/06/britain-drilled-to-accept-lockdown-in-future-pandemics/ Britain drilled to accept lockdown in future pandemics, says 'nudge unit' chief
10. Web site: Eighty-four leading social scientists conferred as Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences. Academy of Social Sciences. 5 August 2017. 19 October 2016. 6 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190606033408/https://www.acss.org.uk/news/eighty-four-leading-social-scientists-conferred-fellows-academy-social-sciences/. dead.
11. Web site: Options for Britain II . 27 July 2014.
12. Book: Halpern, David . David Halpern (psychologist) . Inside the Nudge Unit: How small changes can make a big difference . WH Allen . 2015 . 978-0-7535-5653-5.
13. Book: MINDSPACE report . 2010.