David Michael Rotell was born in Manhattan, New York in 1965, the adopted son of Joyce and Roger Rotell. He was raised mostly by his mother after his parents divorced early in his youth. His genetic father was from the Austrian/Switzerland region and his genetic mother, Joan Wilson, was American and from Seattle and living in Manhattan at the time of his birth. Outside of living in Colorado, Georgia, and Mississippi, he grew up mostly in Rockland County, New York. In his junior year of high school, with a heavy interest in the space program, he began to pursue colleges for aerospace engineering. After visiting the Air Force Academy and Bucknell, among others, he decided to go to Syracuse University in the Fall of 1983 to enroll in their aerospace program.
After freshman year, Rotell joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity and took up bartending on the Syracuse University campus to pay for school. He later switched majors and graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the Maxwell School at Syracuse. He never lost his love for aerospace and his desire to fly.
After several years in the medical profession working with surgical lasers, he decided to work in the finance industry for a brief time, but success led him to drop anchor and remain in the field. He eventually moved into a National Manager role for Wachovia Bank and later, Prosperity Home Mortgage. He has sat on numerous boards for the industry and currently is the president elect for 2022 with the Mortgage Bankers Association in the Metro Washington area.
Rotell still loves adventure and has been piloting a Cessna 172 as he looks to graduate from his student pilot's license to his full pilot's license. He enjoys the peaceful freedom in the sky. He also took up skydiving over the California desert with his friend Neal McDonough until finally learned to skydive solo over Cross Keys, New Jersey. He also loves riding motorcycles and is an avid skier from his youth in Colorado that began at Arapahoe Basin.
He and his wife Denise have four children, Gianna Rose, Kayla Bryn, Ava Gabrielle, and Jacob Emerson. After living in the Philadelphia area, they moved to Northern Virginia outside of Washington DC in 2004 where they happily reside today. He's considered these years with his wife and his four children the best chapter of his life. After spending wonderful time in London and Paris with his wife, he's looking forward to exploring the rest of the world and making his dreams come true.
