# David Allyn

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**David Allyn** (born April 30, 1969) is an American author, educator, and consultant to nonprofit organizations.[1][2]

## Personal life

Allyn is the stepson of the late [John Wallach](/source/John_Wallach), founder of the nonprofit organization [Seeds of Peace](/source/Seeds_of_Peace).[3] Allyn graduated from the [Georgetown Day School](/source/Georgetown_Day_School) in Washington, D.C. He holds a BA from [Brown University](/source/Brown_University) and a PhD from [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University). From 1996–1999, he taught at [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University). In 2014 he was named CEO of The Oliver Scholars Program. In February 2016 he was elected to the board of trustees of the [National Association of Independent Schools](/source/National_Association_of_Independent_Schools) (NAIS).[1]

## Books and articles

Allyn is the author of four books, including *[Make Love, Not War](/source/Make_Love,_Not_War)*[4][5] and *I Can't Believe I Just Did That*,[6][7][8] and has served as a faculty member at [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University) and a visiting scholar at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy.[9] His essays have appeared in *[The New York Times Magazine](/source/The_New_York_Times_Magazine)* and other publications. While an undergraduate at [Brown University](/source/Brown_University), Allyn co-authored a book on transferring from one college to another. He and his co-author (later wife) were profiled in *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)* and featured on [CNN](/source/CNN). He has also published articles in *Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly*,[10] *The Journal of American Studies*,[11] *[Teachers College Record](/source/Teachers_College_Record)*,[12] *The Advocate*, *The Washington Post*, *[The New York Daily News](/source/The_New_York_Daily_News)*, *[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)* and *[The San Francisco Chronicle](/source/The_San_Francisco_Chronicle)*. As an expert on the 1960s, Allyn has appeared on Vh1,[13] The History Channel,[14] and CNN.[15]

## Plays

Allyn's play, *Buying In*, was a semi-finalist for the 2017 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. His play, *Commencement*, was selected for the Baltimore Playwrights Festival.[16] and won a Writer's Digest award.[17] His play *Punctuated Equilibrium* received a staged reading by the Hangar Theatre Lab in [Ithaca, New York](/source/Ithaca,_New_York).[18] His play *Writers Colony* appeared in the Fresh Fruit Festival in New York City,[19] and *Baptizing Adam*[20] won the James H. Wilson Award for Best-Full Length Play. According to *The New York Times*, Allyn is "a wicked observer of self-conscious people at their less than best."[9]

## Concepts

Allyn's original concepts include "[strategic empathy](/source/Empathy),"[21] denoting the deliberate use of perspective-taking to achieve certain desired ends; "mission mirroring,"[22] the phenomenon that occurs when mission-based organizations become plagued by the very problems they were created to solve; and "sexual optimism (pessimism),"[23] the view of human sexuality as benign (or dangerous).

## References

1. ["Staff – Oliver Scholars"](https://www.oliverscholars.org/our-staff/). *Oliverscholars.org*. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

1. ["Interview with David Allyn, CEO of Oliver Scholars"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180402042745/http://community.resident.com/interview-with-david-allyn-ceo-of-oliver-scholars/). *Resident Community*. 2017-07-06. Archived from [the original](http://community.resident.com/interview-with-david-allyn-ceo-of-oliver-scholars/) on 2018-04-02. Retrieved 2017-08-31.

1. ["Janet Wallach | Seeds of Peace"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090227044328/http://www.seedsofpeace.org/node/1866). Archived from [the original](http://www.seedsofpeace.org/node/1866) on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-06-25.

1. Tiger, Lionel (March 19, 2000). ["Turned In, Turned On"](https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/03/19/reviews/000319.19tigert.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved January 29, 2010.

1. "Book Reviews". *Peace & Change*. **27** (4): 641–667. 2002. [doi:10.1111/1468-0130.00249](https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0130.00249). [ISSN 1468-0130](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1468-0130)

1. ["Nonfiction Book Review: I Can't Believe I Just Did That: How (Seemingly) Small Embarrassments Can Wreak Havoc in Your Life-And What You Can Do to Put a Stop to Them by David Allyn"](http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-58542-257-9). *PublishersWeekly.com*. Retrieved 2017-02-13.

1. Parmar, Neil (May 1, 2004). ["Self-Conscious? Get Over It"](http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200406/self-conscious-get-over-it). *[Psychology Today](/source/Psychology_Today)*. Retrieved January 29, 2010.

1. Gizowska, Eva (May 9, 2004). ["Mind I'm so sorry, but do you mind reading this? Are you self-conscious, easily embarrassed, endlessly apologising?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121102084203/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1845260.html). *[The Independent on Sunday](/source/The_Independent_on_Sunday)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1845260.html) on November 2, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2009.

1. Morris, Bob (January 11, 2004). ["The Age of Dissonance; Red-Faced to Meet You"](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/11/style/the-age-of-dissonance-red-faced-to-meet-you.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved October 19, 2009.

1. [\[1\]](http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/rapidpdf/0899764010370869v1)[dead link]

1. David Allyn, "Private Acts/Public Policy: Alfred Kinsey, the American Law Institute and the Privatization of American Sexual Morality," Journal of American Studies, Volume 30, Issue 03, December 1996, pp 405–428

1. Volume 107, Number 7 (2005)

1. ["Sex: The Revolution"](https://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/sex-the-revolution-1200522571/). *Variety.com*. 2008-05-11.

1. [\[2\]](https://us.imdb.com/title/tt1230048/) [dead link]

1. [""The Seventies" Battle of the Sexes (TV Episode 2015)"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4767830/). *IMDb.com*. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

1. ["Baltimore Sun: Baltimore breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic"](https://archive.today/20120730075608/http://weekly.citypaper.com/Events/e3951/ICommencementI). *Baltimoresun.com*. Archived from [the original](https://www.baltimoresun.com/) on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

1. ["2009 Stage Play Script Winners"](http://www.writersdigest.com/2009-annual-competition-winners/annualwinners78_play). *Writersdigest.com*. 2009-10-16.

1. ["Welcome"](https://hangartheatre.org/). *Hangartheatre.org*. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

1. Haagensen, Erik (July 15, 2009). ["Writers Colony"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120304014421/http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/reviews/ny-theatre-reviews/e3ia13021641b2079d2646d6f9f1f854e99). *[Backstage](/source/Backstage_(magazine))*. Archived from [the original](http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/reviews/ny-theatre-reviews/e3ia13021641b2079d2646d6f9f1f854e99) on March 4, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2009.

1. Weber, Bruce (August 30, 2002). ["A Study of Lonely Souls, One of Them With a Gun"](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/30/movies/theater-review-a-study-of-lonely-souls-one-of-them-with-a-gun.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved October 19, 2009.

1. ["The Tao of Doing Good (SSIR)"](https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_tao_of_doing_good). *ssir.org*. Retrieved 2017-02-12.

1. Allyn, David (2010). "Mission Mirroring: Understanding Conflict in Nonprofit Organizations". *Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly*. **40** (4): 762–769. [doi:10.1177/0899764010370869](https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764010370869). [S2CID 145136327](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:145136327)

1. Allyn, David (2000). *Make Love, Not War: The Sexual Revolution, An Unfettered History*. New York: Little, Brown.

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