David Treadwell è nato a Belleville nel New Jersey  nel 1912, ingegnere chimico, ha lavorato per quasi 40 anni presso la Du Pont partecipando alla produzione del celebre Teflon.

  Sposato con Sarah che gli ha dato tre figli, ha rivestito  numerose cariche in seno alla Federazione americana, tra le quali ricordiamo quella di Presidente, Consigliere di  Amministrazione, Vice Presidente del Comitato di Appello, Presidente del Comitato di Controllo della Hall of  Fame della quale ha avuto l'onore di far parte nel 1998.

 Amante anche del Black Jack, nel suo bridge club si sono formati alcuni grandi campioni a stelle strisce come Sydney Silodor, Billy Seamon e sua sorella Edith Freilich.

 Come giocatore è un World Grand Life Master che ha guadagnato 25.700 Master Point vincendo due NABC tra cui il Mitchell del 1960 e oltre 100  titoli  regionali.

 È stato nominato membro onorario dell'ACBL per l'anno 1985 ed ha ricevuto il premio Blackwood nel 1998.

 Si è spento il 15 gennaio del 2010 alla veneranda età di 97 anni a Wilmington in Delaware dove viveva da molti anni, nello stesso mese nel quale l'ACBL Bulletin pubblicava il suo ultimo articolo.

 Dave Treadwell (1912 - 2010) is a retired chemical engineer.

The tournament veteran is notorious for his seemingly endless store of puns and gags that he manages to relate in perfectly deadpan fashion. Despite Treadwell’s reputation, you often don’t know you’ve been had until you hear the punch line.

There are, however, a couple of serious sides to Treadwell.

First, as an expert bridge player, the Wilmington DE resident maintains the solemn view that it is his obligation to take as many tricks as possible when at the bridge table. In so doing, he has earned the rank of Grand Life Master (with more than 20,000 masterpoints) and has represented the U.S. in international competition on several occasions.

Second, Treadwell is quite serious when it comes to serving the bridge community. His dedication earned him accolades as ACBL Honorary Member of the Year in 1985. He also has a place in the Hall of Fame as the 1998 winner of the Blackwood Award as an ACBL member who has contributed to bridge outside of bridge-playing expertise.

Treadwell served as chairman of the ACBL Board of Governors from 1979 through 1981 and was co-chairman of the ACBL Appeals Committee from 1975 to 1991. He is a past-president of Unit 190 (Delaware) and of District 4.

When Treadwell first started playing, few had even heard of contract bridge. The game he played as a youngster growing up in New Jersey was known as auction bridge.

It all started when, at the age of 15, Treadwell was recruited as a fourth. He was immediately smitten. By the time he enrolled at MIT in Cambridge MA in 1929, contract bridge had taken off, and Treadwell liked it even better than auction.

As he became better and better at bridge, Treadwell found himself at the same bridge clubs as some of the future stars of the game, including Billy Seamon, Billy's sister, Edith (now Freilich), and Sidney Silodor.

One of Treadwell’s biggest thrills came in a game against the legendary Oswald Jacoby. Early on in one deal, Treadwell bared a king behind Jacoby, who didn’t believe the unknown Treadwell was good enough to do it. When Jacoby took the finesse and went down, he was furious.

Naturally competitive, Treadwell always plays in the top event for which he is eligible. He likes the mental stimulation.

When he’s not playing bridge, Treadwell spends his time playing blackjack and working on the "magic rectangle" --- a figure composed entirely of squares of different sizes. The minimum number of squares is nine, with only one possibility. With 10 squares, there are more possibilities, and so on. Treadwell has developed magic rectangles with up to 15 squares --- about 2500 --- using a computer and a mathematical formula.

Treadwell has won hundreds of regional championships to go with two major titles --- the North American Swiss Teams in 1982 and the Master Mixed Teams in 1985.