Front Porch Chat with The Revenant Author Michael Punke, ESIA BA '86 (Online)

Location

This event is open to all GW community members for virtual participation via Zoom. Details for joining the event by computer or phone will be sent the day before the event. Please be mindful of the Time Zone of the presentation (EDT). This event is off-the-record and will NOT be recorded for future viewing.

Online registration for this event has now closed. For questions, email Elaine Garbe in Elliott School Alumni Programs at egarbe@gwu.edu.

Event Description

Join us for the summer version of a "fireside chat" with Elliott School alumnus Michael Punke, BA '86, as we discuss his career in international trade and business, how he came to write The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, and how it became an Oscar-winning movie.

Michael Punke is Vice President for Global Public Policy at Amazon Web Services. He has more than 25 years of experience in international trade and regulatory issues. From 2010-17, he served as Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, where he had lead responsibility for international trade negotiations. During his tenure as US ambassador, Punke engaged on a daily basis with counterparts from more than 160 countries, with particular focus on China, the EU and its member states, India, and Brazil.

Punke served previously in government as Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the US Trade Representative; Director for International Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council/National Economic Council; and International Trade Counsel to Senator Max Baucus, then chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade. Beyond government, Punke was a member of the International Trade and Regulatory Practice Group at Mayer, Brown and Platte’s Washington office, including three years as partner.

From 2003 to 2010, Punke lived in Missoula, Montana, where he continues to keep his family home. He worked as a writer, consultant, and adjunct professor at the University of Montana. In addition to The Revenant, he is the author of two works of narrative nonfiction and several screenplays. The Revenant has been translated into more than twenty languages and was an international bestseller, including four weeks as a #1 New York Times bestseller.