This 17-year-old is halfway through his first year studying health sciences at the University of Otago.
And yesterday, he was awarded the inaugural Prime Minister's Award for Academic Excellence as the highest-achieving New Zealand secondary school pupil in 2010.
At the age of 16, the Christ's College pupil achieved NCEA level 3 with excellence, as well as achieving six outstanding scholarships in English, biology, chemistry, mathematics with calculus, statistics and modelling, and physics.
He also received the Top Scholar Award for Scholarship chemistry, and was one of nine pupils who received Premier Awards in the 2010 New Zealand Scholarship exams.
For his achievements, David received the Prime Minister's Award for Academic Excellence from Prime Minister John Key during the Top Scholar award ceremony at Government House in Wellington yesterday.
David said the occasion was a little overwhelming.
"It was grander than I expected.
"I was over the moon. What an incredible experience."
While he was delighted to receive the award, not surprisingly, he was looking forward to returning to Dunedin last night to continue his studies at the university today. He plans to study medicine next year.
Mr Key was full of praise for David, saying his achievements were "absolutely outstanding".
"Not only did David achieve superb results academically, he also contributed hugely to cultural life at Christ's College, having lead roles in several productions and festivals and competing in theatre sports and debating.
"David's achievements across a number of fields show how far ambition and a desire to succeed can enrich a student's life and set them on a strong path to future success."
St Hilda's Collegiate School art pupil Jasmine Knowles and South Otago High School language pupil Ayano Ishii also received awards at the ceremony in Wellington.
Jasmine won the Visual Arts Top Scholar Award and Ayano won the Japanese Language Top Scholar Award.
