Fred Kempe
Fred Kempe is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Council. Under his leadership, the Council has achieved significant growth in size and influence, expanding its work through centers focused on a wide array of topics—from international security and energy to global trade and next-generation mentorship. Prior to this, Kempe had a prominent career at The Wall Street Journal, where he won national and international recognition while serving in numerous senior editorial and reportorial roles.
Fred Kempe Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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President and Chief Executive Officer
Academic History
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Master's Degree
WALL STREET JOURNAL CAREER
- Kempe was a prize-winning editor and reporter at the Wall Street Journal for more than 25 years.
- He was the longest-serving editor and associate publisher ever of WSJ Europe, running the global editorial operations in Europe and the Middle East.
- He served as a roving correspondent based out of London; as a Vienna Bureau chief covering Eastern Europe and East-West Affairs; as a chief diplomatic correspondent in Washington, DC; and as the paper’s first Berlin Bureau chief following the unification of Germany and collapse of the Soviet Union.
NEWS COVERAGE
- The rise of solidarity in Poland;
- the growing Eastern European resistance to Soviet rule;
- the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia and his summit meetings with President Ronald Reagan;
- the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon in the 1980s;
- the American invasion of Panama;
- the unification of Germany; and
- the collapse of Soviet Communism.
MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS
- Kempe is a regular commentator on television and radio both in Europe and the United States.
- He has been a frequent television and radio commentator for CNBC and the BBC.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
- The European Voice selected Kempe as one of the 50 most influential Europeans in 2002 and as one of the 4 leading journalists in Europe.
- He won the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism’s Top Alumni Achievement Award.
- He won the University of Utah’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.
- He has been decorated by the Presidents of Poland and Germany and by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden for his commitment to strengthening the transatlantic alliance.
CURRENT APPOINTMENTS
- Kempe is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Gender Champions in Nuclear Policy.