David John McDonald Jr. (July 1, 1939 – October 29, 2017) was an American literary critic who was Professor of Drama at University of California, Irvine.
He was an early collaborator with the "School of Criticism and Theory", most notably with Murray Krieger, founded at UC Irvine in 1976 and now at Cornell University.
He was also instrumental in bringing celebrated visiting scholars to UC Irvine, including Jacques Derrida, Jerzy Grotowski, and Robert Weimann.
In 1987 he was appointed Founding Director of UCHRI, the University of California Humanities Research Institute, where he also served as a fellow from 1988-1989.
McDonald delivered papers all over the world, and was noted for his work across a variety of fields: Dramatic Theory, Irish Drama, Theatre History, Playwriting.