Experts

Philip Zelikow

White Burkett Miller Emeritus Professor of History

Fast Facts

  • Former Miller Center director
  • Executive Director, 9/11 Commission
  • Elected member, American Academy of Diplomacy
  • Expertise in American foreign policy, military history, European military history, Cuban missile crisis

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • War and Terrorism
  • Domestic Affairs
  • Governance
  • Congress
  • Leadership
  • Politics
  • The Presidency

Philip Zelikow is the White Burkett Miller Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Virginia, where he has also served as dean of the Graduate School and director of the Miller Center. His scholarly work has focused on critical episodes in American and world history. 

He was a trial and appellate lawyer and then a career diplomat before taking academic positions at Harvard, then Virginia. Before and during his academic career, he has served at all levels of American government. His federal service during five administrations has included positions in the White House, State Department, and the Pentagon. His last full-time government position was as the counselor of the Department of State, a deputy to Secretary Condoleezza Rice. 

He directed a small and short-lived federal agency, the 9/11 Commission. He also directed an earlier bipartisan commission on election reform, chaired by former Presidents Carter and Ford, that led to successful passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. More recently he was managing director of “Rework America,” a landmark project on American economic opportunity in the digital age, organized by the Markle Foundation. 

He is one of the few individuals ever to serve on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Boards for presidents of both parties, in the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He has also been a member of the Defense Policy Board for Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and a member of the board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2020, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy.

Featured Publications

The Road Less Traveled
The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917

Philip Zelikow

To Build a Better World
To Build a Better World

Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice

Suez Deconstructed
Suez Deconstructed: An Interactive Study in Crisis, War, and Peacemaking

Philip Zelikow

9/11
The 9/11 Commission Report

Philip Zelikow

Philip Zelikow News Feed

Cavalier Daily
Miller Center webinar panelists analyze the impacts of 9/11 — 20 years later
Antholis introduced History Prof. Philip Zelikow as the keynote speaker. Zelikow formerly worked in the federal government under five administrations and directed the Miller Center from 1998 to 2005. Zelikow began by talking about his experience after 9/11, having visited the towers’ remains soon after the attacks. “I can remember going to ground zero shortly after the attacks, and noticing that awful pungent smell of the place, as if the terrorists had opened up some special sulfurous path,” Zelikow said.
Philip Zelikow The Cavalier Daily
War on the Rocks
Reflections on 9/11 20 years after
We all have our own memories associated with the tragedy of 9/11. In my case I can remember going to Ground Zero shortly after the attacks and noticing that awful, pungent smell of the place, as if the terrorists had opened up some special, sulfurous path to hell. Later, directing the commission investigating what happened, I have vivid memories of tramping through the Tarnak Farms camp in Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden had once had a headquarters.
Philip Zelikow War on the Rocks
Day 1
9/11: Twenty years later (Day 1)
On the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the 2021 Ambassador William C. Battle Symposium explores its impact on the United States at home and in the world. Drawing on expertise from scholars, practitioners, and journalists, this conference examines the history of this era with an eye toward its implications for the future.
Philip Zelikow Miller Center Presents
NPR
Families Of 9/11 Victims May Get Answers When Classified Government Records Release
Philip Zelikow oversaw the work of the team that produced the commission's final report. "We did not think the report would be definitive or the last word on the subject. We thought that it would provide a reliable and authoritative foundation for a lot of further work."
Philip Zelikow NPR All Things Considered
Washington Post
Coronavirus: Finding Answers with Philip D. Zelikow
Our guest today is Philip Zelikow. Mr. Zelikow is currently a professor of history at the University of Virginia, but he previously served as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, and right now, he is leading an effort called the COVID Commission Planning Group.
Philip Zelikow The Washington Post
Washington Post
Opinion: The U.S. still doesn’t know the pandemic’s origins. The need for answers has never been greater.
Mr. Biden should offer to support and facilitate the work toward a full-fledged pandemic investigatory commission being undertaken by the privately funded Covid Commission Planning Group under Philip Zelikow, who was executive director of the highly regarded 9/11 Commission. Such a panel would be uniquely capable of looking both back at what happened and forward to what might.
Philip Zelikow The Washington Post