David Teska

David L. Teska, Assistant Director – Health & Safety, holds a M.S. in Journalism from the University of Kansas, a B.A. in History from Texas Tech University and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College. His responsibilities include identifying, developing, promoting, and implementing best practices for supporting student and faculty health and safety while studying abroad.

David began his career with Study Abroad and Global Engagement in 2024 after a long career in the Federal government in the Emergency Management field with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in Kansas City, Missouri where he deployed to numerous disaster response efforts across the country and U.S. territories in the Western Pacific. In 2021 he deployed to New Jersey where he supported Operation Allies Welcome, the U.S. government's resettlement effort for Afghan refugees who had supported the U.S. government in their country. He is also a retired Captain in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve where he gained further expertise in Emergency Management responding to natural disasters and a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. David grew up the son of a career U.S. Army officer and lived overseas with his family in Okinawa, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy. He has traveled extensively in Asia, Oceania, Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.