George Washington University President-Emeritus Stephen J. Trachtenberg Visits Beit Berl College

​"Beit Berl [College] has a wonderful story that should be known in the U.S. and Europe. I have seen it and it works."  - Prof. Stephen J. Trachtenberg

Professor Stephen J. Trachtenberg, President Emeritus of George Washington University in America’s capital visited the Beit Berl campus on November 5-7 at the invitation of President Tamar Ariav. During his visit, Prof. Trachtenberg met with students, deans, faculty, board members, and the heads of some of Beit Berl’s premier programs, learning about our Center for the Advancement of Shared Society, teacher training program for retiring IDF officers, and our new Masters Degree in Teaching in Mathematics and the Sciences for second-career professionals.

Getting out in the field to see the impact that Beit Berl College is having in the community, he observed Beit Berl student-teachers in action at two high schools – one in the Arab town of Jaljuliya and the other in the predominantly Jewish community of Bnei Dror – and met with high school principals to learn first-hand about the dynamic partnership. During his visit, Prof. Trachtenberg also presented a seminar for presidents from among Israel's universities and colleges on contemporary challenges to university leadership.

Prof. Trachtenberg served as President of George Washington University for nearly two decades. He is the author of six books, serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Defense University and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Public Administration. Previously, he served as President of the University of Hartford, Vice President and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University, and Special Assistant to the Education Commissioner in the then-named U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Prof. Trachtenberg earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University, Juris Doctor from Yale University, and Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University. He has received 22 honorary degrees in recognition of his contributions to higher education. In 2007, the Board of Trustees of GWU named the university’s public policy school the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the top-ranked public policy school in Washington, in recognition of President-Emeritus Trachtenberg’s important accomplishments during his 19-year tenure as president of the university.