David Brunco, Ph.D. - Vice President

David has been a member of the PFC since August 2021 and a member of the board of directors since October 2022. 

He has a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from Cornell University, both in Materials Science and Engineering.  From Cornell, he also has a minor in Physics. He has worked in the semiconductor industry for over 20 years in both Research & Development and in manufacturing roles.   Presently, he has a patent and technical consultant business with clients in the US and Europe.

David was raised Roman Catholic and found that the Church of his youth essentially taught the basic beliefs of Christianity, the love of Jesus, and striving to be a better person.  David bears no hatred for the Church (which exists) nor for god (which doesn't), but has found over the years that the Church in the US has been increasingly stressing a message of intolerance, ignorance, and god's wrath rather than the Jesus' love.

As a young adult, he started reading the bible from the beginning and found the god character to be self-centered, inconsistent, vengeful, lying, and genocidally violent without an even basic understanding of science.  Such a god, even if he existed (which he doesn't), is simply unworthy of worship and praise.  A far better sense of ethics and morality can be found by appealing to reason, science, and the human capacity for love and compassion than by consulting a 1800 - 3000 year old text written by a priestly caste from a superstitious community of primarily farmers and shepherds with a limited understanding of science.

As David advanced in his scientific education, he found science could explain more and more things that previously were attributed to god.  The remaining 'god of the gaps" in scientific understanding is increasingly insignificant, and dare we say, impotent.

He currently supports the PFC website (pghfreethought.org).