Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs, Princeton University
Daniel C. Kurtzer holds the S. Daniel Abraham Chair in Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He retired from the United States Foreign Service at the end of 2005 with the rank of Career-Minister in the Senior Foreign Service. Ambassador Kurtzer served as the United States Ambassador to Israel (2001-2005), and as the United States Ambassador to Egypt (1997-2001).
During 29 years of public service, Kurtzer held a number of senior policy and diplomatic positions, including political officer at the American embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, speechwriter for Secretary of State George P. Shultz and a member of the Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research.
Since leaving government service, Kurtzer has authored numerous articles on United States policy in the Middle East. He served as an advisor to the Iraq Study Group. He is the co-author, with Scott Lasensky, of Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East, published in 2008. Kurtzer serves on the Advisory Council of the American Bar Association’s Middle East-North Africa Rule of Law Initiative and chairs Governor Jon Corzine’s New Jersey-Israel Commission. He also serves on a number of business and public service boards.
Ambassador Kurtzer received a B.A. from Yeshiva University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Daniel and Sheila Kurtzer received the Henrietta Szold Award, the highest honor conferred by Hadassah for humanitarian activities. Kurtzer was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Yeshiva University in 2006. Previously, Kurtzer received distinguished service awards from the President, the Secretary of State and the United States Intelligence Community.
