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Arthur J. Rothkopf serves as senior vice president and counselor to the president of the U.S. Chamber. His responsibilities include leadership of the Chamber’s Education and Workforce initiative, including the nonprofit Institute for a Competitive Workforce. In addition, he is responsible for supervising the National Chamber Foundation, a nonprofit public policy think tank affiliated with the Chamber. He also supervises the Business Civic Leadership Center, a nonprofit affiliate of the Chamber dedicated to improved business and society relations.

Prior to joining the Chamber in July 2005, Rothkopf served for 12 years as president of Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, a highly selective undergraduate college of liberal arts and engineering. Before becoming Lafayette president in July 1993, he was deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT). He was appointed to this position by President George H.W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate. Before that, he served as general counsel of the department, also a Senate-confirmed position.

Prior to joining DOT, Rothkopf was a senior partner in the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson, specializing in tax, regulatory, and legislative representation of U.S. and foreign clients. He was director of the firm’s international operations. He began his career as a lawyer for the Treasury Department and the Securities & Exchange Commission. Rothkopf earned his B.A. from Lafayette and his law degree from Harvard.

Rothkopf is currently a trustee of American University and president of the Pennsylvania Society. He served as a member of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education established by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. He is past board chair of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania. Rothkopf was a trustee of the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Lehigh Valley Hospital, and the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority.

 

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