Experts

William J. Antholis

Fast Facts

  • Former managing director at The Brookings Institution
  • Director of international economic affairs for the National Security Council in the Clinton Administration
  • Expertise on climate change, India, China, international economics, development, U.S. foreign policy

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • Asia
  • Domestic Affairs
  • Energy and the Environment
  • Science and Technology
  • Economic Issues
  • Trade
  • Elections
  • Politics
  • The Presidency

William J. Antholis has served as director and CEO of UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs since January 2015. In that time, the Miller Center has strengthened its position as the leading nonpartisan research institution on the American presidency and worked with scholars across the University of Virginia to deliver vital research to policymakers and the public.

Miller Center initiatives have included the First Year Project 2017, the 2019 Presidential Ideas Festival, the completion and release of the George W. Bush Oral History project, the launch of the Barack Obama Oral History project, the Hillary Rodham Clinton Oral History project, the co-production of the PBS documentary Statecraft: The Bush 41 Team, the creation of The LBJ Telephone Tapes exhibit with the LBJ Library, and the COVID Commission Planning Group. The Miller Center has supported the work of the College of Arts and Sciences Democracy Initiative and partnered with the Karsh Institute of Democracy in developing and delivering Election 2020 and Its Aftermath, the UVA Democracy Biennial, and the Democracy Dialogues. Antholis also co-chaired the Presidential Inaugural Committee for President Jim Ryan’s installation in October 2018.

Before coming to the Miller Center, Antholis served as managing director at The Brookings Institution from 2004 to 2014. In that capacity, he worked directly with Brookings' president and vice presidents to help manage the full range of policy studies, develop new initiatives, coordinate research across programs while ensuring quality and independence, and strengthen the policy impact of Brookings’ work. Antholis is the author of Inside Out India and China: Local Politics Go Global (2013) and co-author (with Strobe Talbott) of Fast Forward: Ethics and Politics in the Age of Global Warming (2010). He has published articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces on U.S. politics, U.S. foreign policy, international organizations, the G8, climate change, and trade. From 1995 to 1999, Antholis served on the White House National Security Council and National Economic Council as well as at the State Department. From 1999-2004, he was director of studies and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a visiting scholar at Princeton University. 

Antholis is an Archon of the Greek Orthodox Church and serves on the board of trustees of the American College of Greece and Titan Cement International.

Antholis earned his PhD from Yale University in politics (1993) and his BA degree with honors from the University of Virginia in government and foreign affairs (1986).

 

William J. Antholis News Feed

In this live webinar discussion convened by UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, experts in history, political science, economics, law, and diplomacy from across the University of Virginia join veteran government practitioners to discuss the array of world crises now challenging American policymakers.
Aynne Kokas, Eric Edelman, Harry Harding, John Owen, Mara Rudman, Phil Potter, Spencer Bakich, Stephen Mull, Syaru Shirley Lin, William Antholis Miller Center Presents
Members of the media play a critical role in holding presidents accountable. A panel of esteemed journalists—moderated by PBS correspondent Judy Woodruff—offers insights on what it takes to report on the inner workings of the White House, especially in times of crisis.
William J. Antholis Miller Center Presents
Leading up to the Miller Center’s 50th anniversary in 2025, this conference shares new ideas and best practices to support a more responsible and effective presidency.
Miller Center Presents
Presidents have become more powerful. They also are more prone to failure.
William Antholis The Messenger
“Alice was both exceptionally intelligent and deeply wise, able to read a room just as easily as she could size up a balance sheet. She focused on the Miller Center’s core strengths and encouraged us to build on them,” Antholis wrote.
William J. Antholis UVA Today
Welcome to the 2nd annual James C. Lehrer Lecture—named in honor of the late Jim Lehrer, PBS NewsHour co-founder and former anchor, and one of America’s leading journalists who reported on every presidency from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Lehrer was also a longtime member of the Miller Center's board. New York Times op-ed columnist and PBS NewsHour commentator David Brooks joins Miller Center Director and CEO William Antholis to discuss Lehrer’s legacy of journalistic integrity, Lehrer's creation of a “moral ecology” at PBS NewsHour, and Brooks’s views on the state of the moral and social foundations of American democracy.
William Antholis Miller Center Presents