Our People

Biography

Elliot is responsible for the Aspen Institute’s Policy Programs, its Public Programs and its relations with its international partners. The Institute’s Policy Programs focus on many of the most important issues in domestic and international affairs, as well as in topics in art, culture and science. They seek to improve decision-making by providing neutral venues, nonpartisan analysis and candid dialogue among leaders. The Institute’s Public Programs open the Institute’s doors to a broader audience of influential citizens, and include the Aspen Ideas Festival and several more specialized forums. These occur primarily on the Institute’s Aspen and Chesapeake Bay campuses, in Washington, at the Roosevelt House in New York City, and occasionally in other cities and overseas. Aspen has international partners in France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and Romania.

Elliot is a graduate of Harvard, Oxford and Yale Law School. He was a U.S. Supreme Court clerk and has had a career including the practice of law, executive positions in state and federal government and a presidential campaign, president of leading insurance and healthcare companies, executive experience in two internet start-ups, and service on many non-profit boards, especially in the arts and humanities. He also serves on the board of an Afghan company focused on the economic development of Afghanistan. Also, as American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, he manages the U.S. Rhodes Scholarships. He lives with his wife Dr. Jessica Herzstein in Washington, DC and Aspen; they have seven children and one grandchild.