David Gaus received a BA in Accounting in 1984 from Notre Dame University. After an impressive conversation with then University President Theodore M. Hesburgh, he travelled to Ecuador and volunteered for two years at The Working Boys' Center. There he observed the marginalization of a population of mostly women and children who, he later learned, lacked access to even basic health services. When he returned to the USA, Gaus re-enrolled at Notre Dame to complete his pre-med studies, and then earned an MD and Master’s in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University. In 1994 he and Friar Hesburgh founded ADH, where he has served as Executive Director ever since. He is concurrently serving as Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin.