Dr. A. Lee Fritschler is a Professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Prior to that appointment he was Vice President and Director of the Center for Public Policy Education at the Brookings Institution. The Center runs education programs in the U.S. and around the world for government and corporate executives and others.

Dr. Fritschler served as Assistant Secretary of Education from 1999-2001, where he was responsible for setting higher education policy and administering the department's higher education programs, which include student, financial aid, FIPSE, GEAR UP, TRIO, international education, the Fulbright program, graduate programs, Developing Institutions, and the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, among others.

Prior to joining the Department, Dr. Fritschler was President of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 1987 until his retirement in June 1999. As President of Dickinson, he emphasized international education, undergraduate science, and foreign languages. In 1991, Fritschler co-founded the Annapolis Group, a contingent of 110 presidents of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges created to build support for liberal arts programs in colleges. He was Vice President for the Center for Public Policy Education at The Brookings Institution from 1981-1987, and served as the Chairman of the U.S. Postal Rate Commission, after having been nominated by President Carter, from 1979-1981.

From 1977 to 1979, Fritschler was dean of the college of public and international affairs at the American University (AU), Washington, D.C., and in charge of managing two schools, three centers, 3,500 students and some 100 full and part-time faculty. He held a number of other academic and administrative positions at AU between 1964 and 1979.

Fritschler is the author of several books and numerous articles and a member of many boards and professional societies. His books include Smoking and Politics: Bureaucracy Centered Policy Making, Sixth Edition (2007: Prentice-Hall), which was co-authored by his Mason colleague, Catherine E. Rudder. He has been a guest lecturer at numerous schools and executive programs.

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