Speaker Bio

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg is President Emeritus and University Professor of Public Service at The George Washington University. He served as GW’s 15th president for nearly two decades, from 1988 to 2007. Trachtenberg came to GW from the University of Hartford, where he had been president for 11 years. He also held positions as vice president for academic services and academic dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Boston University, and served as the special assistant to the U.S. Education Commissioner, Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Trachtenberg is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Phi Beta Kappa and the Board of Directors of the Chiang Chen Industrial Charity Foundation in Hong Kong, the Bankinter Foundation in Madrid and the Ditchley Foundation in England. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration; Trachtenberg chairs the Rhodes Scholarships Selection Committee for Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Trachtenberg has published five books: BMOC: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Educationpublished by Simon and Schuster’s Touchstone Press; Write Me A Letter: The Wit and Wisdom of Stephen Joel Trachtenberg; Reflections on Higher Education; Thinking Out Loud: A Decade of Thoughts on Higher Education; and Speaking His Mind: Five Years of Commentary on Higher Education.. He is co-editor of two books: The Art of Hiring in America’s Colleges & Universities and Letters to the Next President, published byThe Korn/Ferry Institute.

Trachtenberg earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University, a Juris Doctor from Yale University, and a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University. In addition, he holds 16 honorary doctoral degrees, including a Doctor of Laws from his alma mater, Columbia University. Trachtenberg and his wife, Francine Zorn Trachtenberg, have two sons: Adam and Ben.