Anna Eliasson Schamis
aeliasson@acus.org
202-778-4960
Director for Board and Corporate Relations:
Michael Safinaik
msafianik@acus.org
202-778-4945
Director for Membership Programs:
Elena Pak
epak@acus.org
202-778-4967
Director of Finance and Administration:
Drew Ann Jubert
dajubert@acus.org
202-778-4953
NEW LEADERSHIP AT THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL
FREDERICK KEMPE ELECTED PRESIDENT
The Atlantic
Council of the United States has named Frederick Kempe as its new president
and chief executive officer. Mr. Kempe comes to the Council from the Wall
Street Journal, where he has won national and international prizes while
serving in numerous capacities—editor, associate publisher, columnist and
correspondent. He is the author of three books and is a regular commentator
on television and radio. He assumed the position of president on January
1, 2007, after a transitional period beginning in September.
"In Fred Kempe, we have chosen a strong leader with impressive intellectual and managerial talents who can marshal the resources of the Council to the betterment of the Atlantic community and beyond," said Henry Catto, chairman of the Council board that voted Kempe’s appointment. "His deep knowledge of the major issues and players on both sides of the Atlantic in politics, economics and business will help expand and further energize the work of the Council."
Mr. Kempe took over from Jan Lodal, who has served as president on a pro-bono basis since September 2005 when Christopher Makins stepped down for medical reasons. Mr. Lodal continues his long affiliation with the Council as a director and as treasurer.
In announcing the appointment of Mr. Kempe, Mr. Lodal said: “The Council is extraordinarily fortunate to have one of the world’s most accomplished and respected experts on transatlantic relations, security, and foreign policy joining our team. I look forward to working with him, both in the coming transition period and thereafter, as the Council expands its efforts to build a transatlantic relationship and world community capable of dealing with the great challenges of our time.”
Mr. Kempe left the Wall Street Journal following more than a quarter century of distinguished work. He was most recently assistant managing editor, International, and "Thinking Global" columnist for the Wall Street Journal, based in New York. He had served previously for seven years as editor and associate publisher of the Wall Street Journal Europe and was European editor for the global Wall Street Journal from 2002 to 2005.
"We are at a crucial juncture in the history of the Atlantic community, and the Council’s work is critical to provide fresh ideas and dialogue to tackle new challenges" said Mr. Kempe. "The United States and its allies face opportunities and threats from rapid globalization, the rise of new world powers, and new security threats. Well-informed and well-coordinated transatlantic leadership is more vital than at any time since the Cold War's end."
Additional biographical notes on Fred Kempe:
During his time as
editor and associate publisher at the Wall Street Journal Europe, the newspaper
won a number of awards including the prestigious Harold Wincott Award as U.K.
Business Journal of the Year, the Media Tenor Award as the top international
paper in Europe, and multiple "Business Journalist of the Year" prizes from the
World Leadership Forum in London. His teams have participated in two Pulitzer
Prizes.
In 2002, the European Voice, the leading publication following EU affairs, picked Mr. Kempe as one of the 50 most influential Europeans, although he is American, and one of the four leading journalists in Europe. He has been a frequent television and radio commentator for, among others, CNBC, the BBC and German radio and television. As managing editor from 1992–1997, he created the Central European Economic Review and co-founded Convergence, a magazine on Europe’s digital economy.
As a reporter, Mr. Kempe covered a number of significant stories, including the rise of Solidarity in Poland and the growing resistance to Soviet rule, the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia and all his summit meetings with Ronald Reagan, war reporting in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon in the 1980s and the American invasion of Panama. He also covered the unification of Germany and the collapse of Soviet Communism.
Mr. Kempe has written three books that have been published in several languages: "Divorcing the Dictator: America's Bungled Affair with Noriega"; "Siberian Odyssey: A Voyage into the Russian Soul"; and "Father/Land, a Personal Search for the New Germany." He is currently working on a fourth on Cold War Berlin. He speaks German fluently and is the son of German immigrants who came to the United States before World War II. His wife, Pamela Meyer, a native of Washington D.C., is chief executive officer of Simpatico Networks.
Mr. Kempe is a graduate of the University of Utah and has masters from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he was a member of the International Fellows program in the School of International Affairs. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Maryland University College and from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has won the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism's top alumni achievement award and the University of Utah's prize for the top young alumnus.
He is a member of the board of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) in Washington, D.C.; the Aspen Institute Berlin in Berlin, Germany; the Overseas Press Club in New York; and of the advisory board of the Transatlantic Policy Network. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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