Robert Zoellick

Robert Bruce Zoellick (born July 25, 1953) is an American public official and lawyer who was the 11th president of the World Bank Group, a position he held from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2012.

He graduated in 1971 from Naperville Central High School, graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1975 from Swarthmore College as an Honors history major and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School magna cum laude and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1981.

Upon graduation from Harvard Law School, Zoellick served as a law clerk for Judge Patricia Wald on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Zoellick served in various positions at the Department of the Treasury from 1985 to 1988.

He held positions including Counselor to Secretary James Baker, Executive Secretary of the Department, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Policy.

During George H. W. Bush's presidency, Zoellick served with Baker, by then Secretary of State, as Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs, as well as Counselor to the Department (Under Secretary rank).

Zoellick served as Bush's personal representative or "sherpa" for the G7 Economic Summits in 1991 and 1992.

He led the US Delegation to the Two Plus Four talks on German reunification.

A graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard University, Zoellick served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James A. Baker III from 1992 to early 1993.

Robert Bruce Zoellick was born in Naperville, Illinois, the son of Gladys (Lenz) and William T. Zoellick.

His ancestors were German and he was raised Lutheran.

For his achievements in this role, the Federal Republic of Germany awarded him in 1992 the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit.

James A. Baker's book "The Politics of Diplomacy" notes that Zoellick was one of Secretary Baker's "inner circle".

. . "combin[ing] Midwest common sense with policy sophistication."

He was a "superb manager, policy analyst, and writer," Baker's "second brain" and "gatekeeper" and his "right hand man on NAFTA," the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In August 1992, Zoellick was appointed White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President.

Business, academia, and politics (1993–2001)

After leaving government service, Zoellick served from 1993 to 1997 as an Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Fannie Mae.

From 1996 to 1999, he served as director of the Aspen Strategy Group.

He served as an elected member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Afterwards, Zoellick was John M. Olin Professor of National Security at the U.S. Naval Academy (1997–98); Research Scholar at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government; and Senior International Advisor to Goldman Sachs.

From fall 1998 to May 1999, Zoellick headed the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

He resigned when founder David Abshire chose not to retire.

In the 2000 presidential election campaign, Zoellick served as a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush as part of a group, led by Condoleezza Rice, which she termed The Vulcans, after her home town of Birmingham, Alabama.

James Baker designated him as his second-in-command—"a sort of chief operating officer or chief of staff"—in the 36-day battle over recounting the vote in Florida.

Zoellick was named U.S. Trade Representative in Bush's first term; he was a member of the Executive Office, with cabinet rank.

According to the U.S. Trade Representative website, Zoellick completed negotiations to bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization (WTO); developed a strategy to launch new global trade negotiations at the WTO meeting in Doha, Qatar; shepherded Congressional action on the Jordan Free Trade Agreement and the Vietnam Trade Agreement; and worked with Congress to pass the Trade Act of 2002, which included new Trade Promotion Authority.

"Zoellick is indisputably one of the most successful members of the first Bush cabinet."

Some groups claimed he promoted the Central American Free Trade Agreement over the objections of labor, environmental, and human rights groups.

Zoellick played a key role in the U.S.-WTO dispute against the European Union over genetically modified foods.

The move sought to require that the European Union comply with international obligations to use science-based methods in continuing its moratorium on the approval of new genetically modified crops within the E.U.

On January 7, 2005, Bush nominated Zoellick to be Deputy Secretary of State.

Zoellick assumed the office on February 22, 2005.

Zoellick agreed to serve as Deputy Secretary of State for not less than one year.

He was seen as a major architect of the Bush administration's policies regarding China.

In an important speech September 21, 2005, Zoellick challenged China "to become a 'responsible stakeholder' in the international system, contributing more actively than in the past to help shore up the stability of the international system from which it ha[d] benefited so greatly."

In his "thoughtful and influential speech...Zoellick correctly argued that China had benefited greatly from the security and prosperity created by a stable, rule-based international economic and political order. But China had contributed a disproportionally small amount to maintain that order. Zoellick recognized that one of the great challenges facing diplomats in the United States, Europe, and Japan was to persuade China to do more to contribute to the global commons."

He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State (resigning on July 7, 2006) and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001, until February 22, 2005.

Zoellick has been a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs since ending his term with the World Bank.

He is currently a Senior Counselor at Brunswick Group.