Since 2018, Dan Porterfield has served as President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been recognized as a visionary strategist, leader, and advocate for young people and purpose-driven leadership. A lifelong educator and former college president, he is the author of the 2024 book, Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth.
At the Aspen Institute, Porterfield has led an era of organizational development and growth. Since 2018, fueled by new investments, the Institute’s operating budget has increased from $158 million to more than $260 million, and its endowment has tripled to more than $350 million.
Prior to leading the Aspen Institute, Porterfield served for seven years as the President of Franklin & Marshall College. During his presidency, Franklin & Marshall set records for applications, fundraising, and fellowships; developed cutting edge new centers for student wellness, career services, and faculty excellence; and constructed a new athletics stadium and visual arts center.
Porterfield previously served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Development and as an award-winning professor of English at his alma mater, Georgetown University, and as communications director and chief speechwriter for the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.Â
Porterfield serves on the National Board of Directors of Teach For America and as a trustee of Colorado College. He was named a White House Champion of Change in 2016 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned B.A. degrees from Georgetown and Oxford—where he was a Rhodes Scholar—and his Ph.D. from The City University of New York Graduate Center, where he was awarded a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities and wrote his dissertation on the poetry of American prisoners.
