David William Atkinson (born 1948)[1] is a Canadian academic and former president of MacEwan University.

Atkinson was born in Sunderland, England, and immigrated to Canada when very young.

Atkinson was a faculty member at the University of Lethbridge from 1977 to 1991, where he took on increasingly senior administrative positions, including director of applied studies, chair of religious studies, associate dean of arts and science, and dean of student affairs.

[2] He was appointed president of Kwantlen University College in Surrey, British Columbia.

During that time MacEwan centralized its satellite campuses to the city center and constructed a new Centre for Arts and Culture building.