Dr. Ruth David headed Analytic Service Inc., also known as ANSER for 17 years, concluding her service on 28 April 2015. In October 1998, Dr. David was appointed president and chief executive officer of Analytic Services Inc., an independent, not-for-profit, public service institute that provides research and analytic support on national and transnational issues. In 1999 she initiated the corporation's Homeland Defense Strategic Thrust to address the growing national concern of multi-dimensional, asymmetric threats from rogue nations, sub-state terrorist groups, and domestic terrorism; she formally created the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security in May 2001 to enhance public awareness and contribute to the dialog on a national, state, and local level. In 2004 the corporation was selected by the Department of Homeland Security to establish the legislatively-mandated Homeland Security Institute (HSI). Today the corporation operates two business units-ANSER, which supports clients in the National Security, Homeland Defense, and Public Safety sectors; and HSSAI, a federally funded research and development center dedicated to Homeland Security-as well as the ASysT Institute, a collaborative endeavor initiated in 2007 to advance the application of systems thinking principles to critical national issues.

From September 1995 to September 1998, Dr. David was Deputy Director for Science and Technology (DDS&T) at the Central Intelligence Agency. As Technical Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence, she was responsible for research, development, and deployment of technologies in support of all phases of the intelligence process. She represented the CIA on numerous national committees and advisory bodies, including the National Science and Technology Council and the Committee on National Security. During her tenure as DDS&T she conceptualized a new nonprofit corporation that could speed CIA's adoption of commercially viable technologies-In-Q-Tel was subsequently established to fulfill this role. Upon her departure, Dr. David was awarded the CIA's Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA Director's Award, the Director of NSA Distinguished Service Medal, the National Reconnaissance Officer's Award for Distinguished Service, and the Defense Intelligence Director's Award.

Previously, Dr. David served in several leadership positions at the Sandia National Laboratories, where she began her professional career in 1975. Most recently, she was Director of Advanced Information Technologies. From 1991 to 1994, Dr. David was Director of the Development Testing Center that developed and operated a broad spectrum of full-scale engineering test facilities.

Dr. David was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2002 and has served as a Councilor since 2007. She chairs the National Research Council Board on Global Science and Technology, is a member of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, and has served on a number of ad hoc study committees. She also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Defense Science Board and is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the Stevens Institute of Technology College of Systems and Enterprises Advisory Board, the Systems Engineering Research Center Advisory Board, the Wichita State University Foundation National Advisory Committee, and the Wichita State University College of Engineering Industry Advisory Board. She also is a Member of the Corporation for the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. and a Director of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation.

Dr. David previously served on the National Security Agency Advisory Board, the National Research Council Naval Studies Board, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Technical Advisory Group, the Defense Science Board, the Department of Energy Nonproliferation and National Security Advisory Committee, and the Securities and Exchange Commission Technical Advisory Group.

She was a member of both the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and the Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society, and in 2010 she was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame. She is a former adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico and has technical experience in digital and microprocessor-based system design, digital signal analysis, adaptive signal analysis, and system integration.

Dr. David frequently provides lectures, briefings, and articles on the many facets of homeland security, as well as other national security and technology-related issues. She is the coauthor of three books on Signal Processing Algorithms and has authored or coauthored numerous papers and book chapters.