David J. Hensler

David J. Hensler is a lawyer from Washington, D.C. with a deep interest in modernist architecture. He is now teaching a course at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University (OLLI at AU) on 20th Century Modernist Architects, including Mies, who have buildings in D.C. and the nearby suburbs. Several years ago, David and his wife Margaret co-sponsored with the Mies Society a four-city lecture tour by Daniela Tugendhat, whose parents commissioned Mies’ legendary Tugendhat Haus in Brno, Czech Republic, and her husband, Ivo Hammer, a renowned restoration professional who chaired the committee overseeing the restoration of the Tugendhat Haus. In 2022, David and his wife also co-sponsored with the Mies Society, AIA | DC, and the D.C. Public Library Foundation a lecture by Trustee Emeritus Dirk Lohan at the Mies-designed Martin Luther King Library in D.C. to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

David has long been active in non-profit activities, including having recently served as president of OLLI at AU, a regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), and treasurer and, currently, president of the ACTL Foundation. David is also the outside general counsel for the Cobell Scholarship Fund, the nation’s largest Native American Scholarship Fund, on a pro bono basis. David was a partner for more than four decades at the law firm of Hogan & Hartson, (now Hogan Lovells), where he served four multi-year terms on the Executive Committee and is now a senior counsel. David received B.S. and J.D. degrees —both with honors—from St. Louis University in Missouri and taught law and economics as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center for eight years.