About the Institute
Leadership and Board of Trustees
Our Senior Leadership
The Aspen Institute is led by a president and CEO and four executive vice presidents. They are:
- Walter Isaacson, President and CEO
- Elliot Gerson, Executive Vice President of Policy and Public Programs, International Partnerships
- Amy Margerum, Executive Vice President Operations, Corporate Secretary
- Peter Reiling, Executive Vice President, Leadership and Seminar Programs
- Susan Sherwin, Executive Vice President of Development
The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is made up of high-level individuals from the public and private sectors who have been elected by a majority of the membership of the board. The board is responsible for providing counsel to the President, as well as governance over the business, affairs, and property of the Aspen Institute. The board meets three times per year and its twelve standing committees meet regularly to discuss, in depth, the key issues facing the organization. The committees are as follows: Executive, Trustee Affairs, Audit, Finance, Development, Marketing and Communications, Program Strategy, Seminars, Public Programs, Leadership Initiatives, Facilities and International.
Chairman
Robert K. Steel is the former president and CEO of Wachovia Corporation. He joined the board of directors of Wells Fargo & Co. upon the firm's merger with Wachovia. He previously...
Vice Chairman, The Aspen Institute
Henry E. Catto, has served as director of the U.S. Information Agency and has been ambassador to Great Britain, deputy representative to the Organization of American States, ambassador to El Salvador...
President and CEO
Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based in Washington, D.C. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the...
Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group and Chair, Albright Capital Management LLC
Madeleine K. Albright is Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair and Principal of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging...
Senior Advisor, Booz Allen Hamilton
Paul F. Anderson now serves as a senior advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton. During his career with Booz Allen, which began in 1963, Anderson participated in a broad range of consulting assignments,...
Mercedes T. Bass, a philanthropist, is active in many nonprofit organizations. Mrs. Bass' affiliations include Aspen Music School, Advisory Board; Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association, Board of...
Chairman Emeritus, The Aspen Institute
Berl Bernhard served as Chairman of the Aspen Institute from 1991 to 1996. He currently serves as Chair of the Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII). He is a partner in the law firm of DLA Piper...
Melva Bucksbaum is a devoted art patron, philanthropist and collector of contemporary art. Melva serves on the Board of American Friends of the Israel Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and...
Founder, Former Chairman and CEO, Rodel, Inc.
Bill Budinger, inventor, holder of over three dozen patents, founded and served for 33 years as CEO and Chairman of Rodel, Inc. Rodel built plants in Delaware, Arizona, North Carolina, Germany, Japan...
Professor of Law, Yale University Law School
Stephen L. Carter is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of law at Yale University, and a long-time Aspen moderator. At Yale, he teaches courses ranging from Intellectual Property to The Law and...
James Schine Crown is President of Henry Crown and Company, a privately owned investment company which invests in public and private securities, real estate and operating companies. He is a director...
Chief Executive Officer, CXO Communication
Andrea (Andy) Cunningham is Founder and CEO of CXO Communication, a privately-held strategic communication consultancy focused entirely on matters critical to corporate officers and their teams....
Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
John Doerr joined Intel in 1974 just as they invented the famous “8080” 8 bit microprocessor. At Intel he held various engineering, marketing and management assignments, and was one of their top-...
Chairman, Deep Ocean Exploration & Research
Sylvia Earle, the world-renowned marine biologist, has been an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society since 1998. Named Time magazines first hero for the planet in 1998, Earle has...
Former Chairman & CEO, The Walt Disney Company
Michael Eisner has been a leader in the American entertainment industry for four decades. He began his career at ABC, where he helped take the network to number one in primetime, daytime and...
Chairman, Aspen Institute Berlin
Leonhard H. Fischer was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Winterthur Group as of January 1, 2003. He has been a member of the Credit Suisse Group Executive Board since 2003. He graduated from the...
President and Chief Executive Officer, Aspen Music Festival and School
Alan Fletcher is President and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School and a respected composer. He comes to Aspen from the positions of Head of the School of Music and Professor of Music at...
Chairman, Holsman International
Henrietta H. Fore served as Under Secretary of State for Management from August 2005 to January 2009. Prior to her appointment, Fore served as the 37th Director of the United States Mint in the...
Ann B. Friedman of Bethesda, MD, currently teaches beginning reading and writing with the Montgomery County Public Schools. She is also a trustee of Conservation International, headquartered in...
Senior Advisor, Stone Point Capital
Stephen Friedman concurrently serves as Federal Reserve Chairman of New York and Chairman for Stone Point Capitol, LLC, which manages private equity funds investing in financial services businesses. ...
Alphonse Fletcher University Professor
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities and the chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and serves as the director of...
President, Aspen Institute Romania
Mircea Geoana is the Chairman of the Romanian Social-Democrat Party (PSD) since 2005. He is also the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Romanian Senate. In January 2006, he was...
Professor of Public Service, John F. Kennedy School of Government
David R. Gergen is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also serves as editor-at-large...
Honorary Trustee, Kennedy Center
Alma Gildenhorn of Washington, DC has been a recognized leader in civic, cultural, and charitable organizations for many years. A graduate of the University of Maryland, she is a trustee of its...
Managing Partner, Greenbriar Equity Group
Gerald Greenwald founded Greenbriar Equity Group with Joel Beckman and Reginald Jones. Greenbriar has formed a strategic alliance with Berkshire Partners to make private equity investments in the...
Chairman, The Lovell Group
Patrick Gross is Chairman of The Lovell Group, a business and technology advisory and investment firm. Through The Lovell Group, he is advising half a dozen private technology and internet commerce...
Founder and Managing Partner, TeleSoft Partners
Arjun Gupta, Founder and CEO, TeleSoft Partners, San Mateo, CA Arjun Gupta founded TeleSoft Partners, a family of communications-focused venture capital funds, in 1997. TeleSoft manages capital...
Founder/Chairman Emeritus, Harman International Industries, Inc.
Sidney Harman is Executive Chairman of Harman International Industries, Inc., a leading manufacturer of audio, video and navigation products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. He...
Private Investor
Hayne Hipp is founder of the Liberty Fellowship, a two-year program of seminars and service projects conducted in partnership with the Aspen Institute, Wofford College and Hayne. Drawing primarily...
Law Offices of Gerald D. Hosier, Ltd.
Gerald Hosier is an attorney specializing in intellectual property litigation. Forbes magazine and other prominent publications have recognized him as one of the top plaintiff’s trial lawyers. He...
Javelina Partners
Ann Hudson has been active in numerous civic organizations in Texas and on a national level, with a special interest in the fine arts. She formerly served on the national committees of the National...
Managing Director, Crestview Advisors, LLC
Robert Hurst is a Managing Director at Crestview Partners. He retired as Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs in June 2004. At Goldman, Mr. Hurst spent 30 years in a variety of leadership positions,...
Chief Corporate Advisor, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
Yotaro Kobayashi, chairman, the Aspen Institute Japan, is chief corporate advisor, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. He serves on the corporate boards of Callaway Golf Company, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone...
Executive Vice President, Chemical Technology
David Koch, a chemical engineer, is executive vice president of Koch Industries and is responsible for its Chemical Technology Group of companies. He is a member of numerous boards, including the...
Chairman, RAND Board of Trustees
Ann McLaughlin Korologos, Chairman Emeritus of the Aspen Institute, having served as Chairman from 1996 through August of 2000, is also Chairman of the RAND board of trustees. From 1990-1995 she...
Principal, Round Lake Designs, LLC
Timothy Krauskopf is a self-described serial entrepreneur who is currently operating Round Lake Freight, a small truck transportation company serving the restaurant supply industry in the Chicago...
Chairman Emeritus, The Aspen Institute
Leonard A. Lauder is the chairman of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc., an international leader in the cosmetic and fashion industries. Lauder has been honored many times for his work in New York City...
Senior VP Investments, UBS
Roderick von Lipsey is vice president at Goldman Sachs & Co. Private Wealth Management, Investment Management Division. Rod serves as a strategic investment advisor for CEOs, families,...
President, Aspen France
Elisabeth Lulin, Founder and Managing Director, Paradigmes et caetera, Senlis, France. Elisabeth Lulin began her career in 1991 as General Finance Inspector for the French government. She then joined...
Thayer Capital Partners, Chairman
Fred Malek is Founder and Chairman of Thayer Capital Partners, a Washington D.C. based merchant bank that has $1.5 billion of equity under management and focuses on management buyouts. Mr....
Partner, McKinsey & Company
James Manyika is Partner of McKinsey & Company, where he focuses on serving large global technology companies, on strategy and operational issues. He is a member of the leadership group of the...
Chairman Emeritus, The Aspen Institute
William E. Mayer is the Senior Partner of Park Avenue Equity Partners, a private equity firm. From the fall of 1992 until December 1996, Mr. Mayer was a professor and Dean of the College of Business...
Cornerstone Holdings LLC
Bonnie McCloskey is a Partner of Cornerstone Holdings, LLC, a family-owned real estate development venture capital and portfolio management firm. She has extensive experience with civic groups,...
Managing Partner, JBK Partners
Anne Welsh McNulty is co-founder and managing partner of JBK Partners, with businesses including investment management and a private philanthropic foundation.
Before starting JBK Partners, Ms....
Publisher Emeritus, Washingtonian Magazine
Eleanor Merrill is chairman and publisher of Capital-Gazette Communications, Inc. The company publishes the Washingtonian magazine as well as five Maryland newspapers, including The Capital in...
Managing Director, Credit Suisse First Boston
Karlheinz Muhr is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Asset Management Division and Head of Credit Suisse Volaris Volatility Management, based in New York. He is also a member of the Chairman...
President, Ancora Associates, Inc.
Clare Muñana is an international management consultant and President and Chief Executive Officer of Ancora Associates, Inc. She has performed numerous domestic and international engagements for...
President, Elinor Bunin Productions, Inc.
Elinor Bunin Munroe is an Emmy award-winning creator, designer, and producer of live-action and animated films. Her films have been shown on all major television networks and at Cannes, Venice, and...
Managing Director and Co-Founder, Insight Venture Partners
Jerry Murdock is a Managing Director and the co-founder of Insight Venture Partners. Since Insight's inception in 1995, he has played a leading role in defining the company's investment strategy and...
Chairman, Mapleton Investments
Marc Nathanson is Chairman of Mapleton Investments, Mapleton Communications and Mapleton/RDS Real Estate, LLC. Mr. Nathanson currently serves as Vice Chairman of Charter Communications, the nation’s...
Chairman, Oceana Energy Company
William Nitze is Chairman of Gridpoint, Inc., a company that designs and manufactures energy management systems for the home and office. He is an internationally renowned expert on environmental...
Humanitarian Activist; UN Expert Advisor
Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Since 1978, she has initiated, directed, and sponsored projects...
President, LBL Foundation for Children
Olara Otunnu is a distinguished international statesman who is widely acclaimed for his diplomatic acumen and negotiating skills. Currently President, LBL Foundation for Children and former UN Under-...
Professor of Religion
Elaine Pagels, a historian of religion, is the Harrington Pear Paine Professor at Princeton University. She received the MacArthur Prize Fellowship for creative work, and is best known for her books...
Chairman, The Powell Grop
Michel Pébereau graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and is Inspecteur Général des Finances. He is currently Chairman of the Board of BNP Paribas, and has been Chairman of the European Banking...
Chairman, Sagitta Asset Management Limited
Lord Charles Powell was for many years Private Secretary and advisor on foreign affairs and defense to Lady Thatcher when she was Prime Minister, and held the same position in the early part of John...
Chairman, The MK Powell Group
Michael Powell, Chairman and CEO, The MK Powell Group, LLC, Washington, DC. - Michael Powell is currently Chairman and CEO of the MK Powell Group, a private consulting firm, as well as a partner in...
Chairperson, Zohar Education Project Incorporative
Margot Pritzker is Chair of the Zohar Education Project Incorporated and President and Founder of WomenOnCall.org.
She is a Board Trustee of the Aspen Institute, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs...
Executive Vice President, Leadership and Seminar Programs
Peter A. Reiling is Executive Vice President for Leadership and Seminar Programs and Executive Director of the Henry Crown Fellowship Program at the Aspen Institute. In these roles, he oversees the...
Co-Owner and Vice Chairman, Roll International Corporation
Lynda Resnick began her business career at the age of 19, when she founded a full-service advertising agency. Other successful ventures throughout her career include corporate management, marketing,...
Chairman, Letsema Consulting Company
Isaac O. Shongwe, Chief Executive Officer, Barloworld Logistics Africa (Pty) Ltd., Benmore, South Africa. A native of South Africa, Isaac Shongwe is the Chief Executive Officer of Barloworld...
Institute on Arts and Civic Dialogue
Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. Currently, she teaches in the Department of Performance Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She...
Chairman, Aspen Institute India
Gautam Thapar is Chairman & CEO of India's foremost diversified corporation, the Avantha Group. The Group has business interests in diverse areas, including pulp and paper, power transmission and...
Chairman, Afras Ventures
Dr. Shashi Tharoor is Chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures; a prize-winning author of ten books, both fiction and non-fiction; and a widely-published critic, commentator and columnist (including...
Giulio Tremonti was born in Sondrio, Italy on August 18, 1947. A professor since 1974, he currently teaches at the University of Pavia Law School. His published books: “La paura e la speranza –...
Managing Partner, Clark & Weinstock
Vin Weber is a partner with Clark & Weinstock, a strategic consulting and public policy firm in Washington, DC. He is a former US Congressman, serving Minnesota's Second Congressional District...
Beatrice Wilkinson Welters is the Founder and Chairman of the AnBryce Foundation and the Vincent Wilkinson Foundation. These foundations focus on underserved youth and young adults to provide...
Chair, Asia Pacific Practice, Kaye Scholer LLP
Alice Young is a Partner in the New York office of Kaye Scholer LLP and Chair of the firm's Asia Pacific Practice Group. For over 30 years, she has concentrated her practice on corporate law and...
The History of the Aspen Institute
As we celebrate our 60th year, read about Walter Paepcke's dream for the town of Aspen.
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