Fr. Ted Said… Civil & Human Rights: Dr. David Gaus ’84

Dr. David Gaus ‘84, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Andean Health and Development, speaks as part of the Alumni Association’s Fr. Ted Said Speaker Series during Reunion 2019. The series offers thought-provoking talks by ND faculty and alumni that explore the world’s most pressing problems and honor the legacy of Fr. Hesburgh.

Dr. Gaus is the founder of Andean Health & Development (AHD) and
has served as its CEO since 1994. David grew up in Milwaukee, WI, and attended Notre Dame where he received an accounting degree. Gaus traveled to Ecuador to spend two years volunteering at an orphanage. He returned there after earning his M.D. and Master’s in Public Health & Tropical Medicine from Tulane. In 1996, he and Fr. Hesburgh started AHD to provide self-sustaining, comprehensive health care to the rural poor in the community of Pedro Vicente Maldonado. Today, David and his family live in Quito, Ecuador.