Strobe Talbott, former Deputy Secretary of State and a distinguished foreign affairs author and journalist, will become President of the Brookings Institution July 1, 2002. He is currently the Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, which sponsors interdisciplinary research and teaching, as well as collaboration with other universities and non-governmental organizations.
Talbott, 55, was elected the sixth President of one of the nation’s oldest public policy research institutions by a unanimous vote of the Brookings Board of Trustees today, following an eight-month search.
In announcing the selection, Brookings Chairman James A. Johnson said, “I am confident that Strobe Talbott will be an outstanding leader of Brookings. In addition to his keen intellect and deep background in key public policy issues, he will provide the energy, the judgment and the sense of balance and fairness that our unique institution requires.”
“This is a great honor and opportunity,” said Talbott. “Sound policy depends on nonpartisan, independent research and analysis of the kind that Brookings has generated for more than eight decades. I have long admired the Brookings Institution’s reputation for excellence and objectivity, which is an invaluable asset for its ongoing mission. I look forward to working with a superb team of scholars in ensuring the preeminence and impact of the Institution in the years ahead.”
Talbott will succeed Ambassador Michael H. Armacost, who announced last year that he would retire in 2002 following the selection of his successor. Armacost has served as President of Brookings since 1995.
Mike Armacost said, “I am delighted with the selection of Strobe Talbott as the next President of Brookings. He has all the attributes necessary for success. He is the author of thoughtful, critically acclaimed, policy-oriented books. He has been an exemplary public servant. He possesses in rich abundance the values that are at the core of this institution: collegiality, civility, personal integrity, and a commitment to detached, independent scholarship on the most urgent national issues. And he is widely known and respected within the policymaking community here and abroad.”
Johnson added, “Strobe is fortunate indeed to inherit from Mike Armacost an extremely healthy institution. Mike has guided Brookings to a new level of intellectual excellence and policy impact.”
Talbott will lead a staff of 277, including a number of the world’s leading public policy scholars, and preside over an endowment of over $200 million. This year, Brookings scholars will publish more than fifty volumes of research in the Institution’s core areas of politics and government, international affairs, and economic studies.
Yale’s President, Richard C. Levin, has indicated an interest in pursuing the possibilities for future collaboration between Yale and Brookings.