Joel Trachtenberg was the 15th President of The George Washington University and currently holds the title of President Emeritus and University Professor of Public Service. He assumed this title on August 1, 2007.

Trachtenberg is a native of Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Columbia University in 1959, and earned a Juris Doctor from Yale in 1962 and a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1966.
He began his career in higher education at Boston University and later became President at the University of Hartford. From there he went to The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

He is the author of numerous books including The Art of Hiring in America’s Colleges & Universities, Thinking Out Loud, Reflections on Higher Education, Speaking His Mind, and Big Man on Campus.

He has received 16 honorary degrees in recognition of his contributions to higher education. These include an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Columbia University in 2008, a Doctor of Public Service degree from The George Washington University in 2008, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from his alma mater Columbia University in 2007, an honorary Doctor of Public Administration degree from South Korea’s Kyonggi University, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Hanyang University in South Korea, and an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the University of Hartford (CT) in 1989.