Paul Tagliabue

Paul Tagliabue has been the Chair of Georgetown University’s Board of Directors since July 2009, having joined the Board in 2006. Tagliabue also engages in a range of endeavors, including in business, law and higher education. He previously served as the Commissioner (CEO) of the National Football League (NFL) from 1989 until 2006. As NFL Commissioner, Tagliabue presided over an extended period of labor peace, league expansion and growth of fan interest and revenue in professional football.  His leadership of the NFL has been featured in national and international journals, including The Economist, Fortune, Business Week, Time and the China Daily.

Tagliabue is senior of counsel in the law firm Covington & Burling LLP in its Washington, D.C., office and advises clients on strategic matters in the communications and media, crisis management, and international sectors. Tagliabue has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, the Mideast and elsewhere, and has recently engaged in business, higher education and public policy discussions and forums in these regions.   

Before becoming the NFL’s CEO, Tagliabue represented the league and other clients for two decades at Covington & Burling.  He earlier served in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense as a policy analyst, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  

Born in 1940, Tagliabue graduated in 1962 with honors from Georgetown College.  He received his Law degree in 1965 with honors at New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar, and he has since received honorary degrees from several universities.