Joan E. Spero, a former government and corporate executive, now president of The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, was elected to the Brookings Board of Trustees at its fall meeting on October 28.
Spero served the Department of State as ambassador to the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs in 1980-81. From 1981 to 1993, she was at the American Express Company, as vice president for corporate strategic planning (1981-83), vice president for international corporate affairs (1983-89), treasurer and senior vice president (1989-91), and executive vice president for corporate affairs and communications (1991-93). From 1993 to 1997, she served in the Clinton Administration as Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs.
She is the author of The Politics of International Economic Relations (fifth edition, 1997) and The Failure of the Franklin National Bank: Challenge to the International Banking System (1980), as well as numerous articles on international economic issues.
“With her global outlook, and her vast experience in the governmental and corporate arenas, Joan will be an invaluable addition to the Brookings board,” said James Johnson, Chairman of the Brookings Board of Trustees.
An undergraduate with honors at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Spero received an M.A. in international affairs and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University, also studying at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris. She was an assistant professor at Columbia from 1973 to 1979.
Spero serves as a director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. She is also a member of the Council of American Ambassadors and the Council on Foreign Relations. She lives in New York City.