David Buchdahl was born in New York City and moved away when he was six weeks old. He returned last year with his wife Carol and settled into an apartment in Morningside Heights. His early childhood was spent in Massachusetts; his parents then moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where David attended high school. He remembers three specific things about high school: he was the only Jew (he later learned there were two others), his class was seven hundred students, and he dated a cheerleader.
He attended The Johns Hopkins University, where he met his wife Carol. The couple moved to Chicago, where David attended the University of Chicago and received a PhD in Anthropology. The couple moved to Rhode Island, where he taught at Brown University. Carol gave birth to two children, Jacob and Sara.
David received a public service research grant under the Carter Administration and moved the family to Vermont to do research with the Abenaki tribe and study their application of organic farming. However, when Ronald Reagan swept into power, the new administration canceled research projects, including the one David was engaged with.
The family liked Vermont and decided to stay. David found a teaching position at the state community college of Vermont for the next 30 years. They have five grandchildren.
