Daniel C. Kurtzer

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. During a 29-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Kurtzer served as the United States Ambassador to Israel and as the United States Ambassador to Egypt.

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, deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, and principal deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and research. He was instrumental in formulating and executing American policy in the Middle East peace process.

Since leaving government service, Kurtzer has authored numerous articles on U.S. policy, including most recently, with Michael Bell, "Old City, New Regime" (Foreign Affairs) proposing a creative way to resolve the problem of Jerusalem. 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. Kurtzer serves on the advisory council of the American Bar Association's Middle East-North Africa Rule of Law Initiative and on the board of trustees of the American University of Cairo.

Ambassador Kurtzer received a B.A. from Yeshiva University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.