Robert Bruce Zoellick (; German: [ˈtsœlɪk]; born July 25, 1953) is an American lawyer and government official who was the 11th president of the World Bank Group from 2007 to 2012. He was previously chairman of international advisors at Goldman Sachs from 2006 to 2007, United States Deputy Secretary of State from 2005 to 2006, and U.S. Trade Representative from 2001 to 2005. Prior to those posts, from 1985 to 2001, he served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, in addition to positions in various think tanks and academia.
Zoellick has been a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs since ending his term with the World Bank in 2012. Since 2017, he has been a Senior Counselor at Brunswick Group.
Zoellick was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois, the son of Gladys (Lenz) and William T. Zoellick. His ancestors were German and he was raised Lutheran. He grew up in Naperville, Illinois, and attended Naperville Central High School, graduating in 1971.
After high school, Zoellick studied history as an undergraduate at Swarthmore College, where he graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in 1975 with membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He then dual enrolled at Harvard University, where he simultaneously studied public policy and law, earning his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Harvard Law School and his Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1981.
Judicial clerkship (1982–1983)
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 from 1982 to 1983.
Government service (1985–1992)
Zoellick was special assistant to Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Richard Darman from July to December 1985, and was counselor and executive secretary to United States Secretary of the Treasury James Baker from January to July 1988.
He was issues director for the 1988 George H. W. Bush Presidential campaign from July to November 1988.
During Bush's presidency, Zoellick served with Baker, by then Secretary of State, as Counselor of the United States Department of State from March 1989 to August 1992, and as Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs from May 1991 to August 1992.
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; for his achievements in this role, the Federal Republic of Germany awarded him the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit.
Baker's book The Politics of Diplomacy describes Zoellick as his "right-hand man on NAFTA". 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 of Fannie Mae, and was also its General Counsel from 1993 through 1996. Afterwards, Zoellick was John M. Olin Visiting professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval Academy (1997–98); and Research Scholar at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government (1999–2001). From July 1999 to February 2001, he was Senior International Advisor to Goldman Sachs.
He served as a member of the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1994 through 2001. From 1997 to 2001, he also served as director of the Aspen Strategy Group.
From January 1999 to May 1999, Zoellick was president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He resigned due to pressure from the board, which objected to his role as an occasional adviser to George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.
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 the 2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida.
U.S. Trade Representative (2001–2005)