David A. Collins

David A. Collins is past president of the Board of the American Bar Foundation. Now retired, he practiced law both as an in-house lawyer for General Motors and its subsidiaries and then as Of Counsel at the national law firm of Dykema Gossett. At Dykema, he headed the firm’s corporate compliance practice. At GM, he served in various capacities, including Corporate Secretary, General Counsel of Saturn Corporation, and Executive Director of Corporate Compliance.

Mr. Collins earned his B.A. from Amherst College (1967) and his J.D. from Washington University (1972), where he served as an editor of the law review (The Washington University Law Quarterly). He earned an M.A. in history from Wayne State University in 2003, and a Ph.D. in history, also at Wayne State University, in 2014.

He has served in numerous ABA roles, including the Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession, the Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice, the Administration Committee of the ABA employee pension plan (A-E-F-C), the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID), National Law Day Chair, and the Standing Committee on Public Education.

Before entering law school, Mr. Collins served as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural El Salvador.