David Hennessey Waldeck (September 5, 1956 â February 2026) was an American chemist.
Waldeck was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended the University of Cincinnati, earning his BS degree in 1978. He also attended the University of Chicago, earning his PhD degree in chemistry in 1983. After earning his degrees, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.
He served as a professor in the department of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh from 1985 to 2024. During his years as a professor, in 2004, he was elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society, "for his fundamental contributions to the molecular and electronic origins of friction in chemical reactions and transport processes in liquid solutions", and was named a distinguished professor in 2024.
Waldeck died in February 2026, at the age of 69.