Robert Zoellick

Friends of Freie Universität Berlin (FFUB) honored Robert B. Zoellick, former Deputy Secretary of State and Managing Director and Chairman of the International Advisors at Goldman Sachs with the 2007 Transatlantic Bridge Award at its Annual Gala on Wednesday, 25 April 2007 at  Capitale, New York.

1953 born to parents of German ancestry but in Illinois and a true bred US ciizen, Zoellick is also a Harvard product. He served in various positions at the Department of the Treasury for three years.  
In 2000 he served as a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush during  U.S. Presidential election campaign that year, then as United States Trade Representative for four years. In 2005 he became the Deputy Secretary of State. In 2006 he resigned from the position.

Named U.S. Trade Representative at the beginning of President George W. Bush's first term, Zoellick was a member of the Executive Office, with the rank of Ambassador. According to the U.S. Trade Representative web site, 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 at Doha, 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.

Robert Zoellick, who enjoys long-distance running, has a long track record in the economic policy and diplomatic affairs of Republican administrations since the late 1980s. During the second administration of president Ronald Reagan, Zoellick, who began his career as a Harvard-educated lawyer, served as a special assistant at the Treasury Department. During the Bush Sr administration, Zoellick became a key figure shaping post-Cold War economic policy as a senior officer in both the Treasury and State departments and a personal adviser to the elder Bush.

In honor of his outstanding career, Zoellick was presented with the Kennedy School's Alumni Achievement Award. This is a report of the function and the deliberations on the occasion.