After four years as the Director of the Feinstein International Center and a lifetime of commitment to public service, Greg Gottlieb is retiring on July 30, 2021. Greg brought passion and commitment for improving humanitarian action to everything he did at the Center. He also brought his depth and breadth of experience into the classrooms at the Friedman and Fletcher Schools teaching courses such as Humanitarian Leadership.

It was actually a bit of luck that brought Greg to the Center, as Dan Maxwell recently relayed. “Greg’s coming to Tufts was the result of accidental meeting that very nearly didn’t happen. I was in DC in the summer of 2016, newly appointed as the acting director and meeting with folks from USAID. During one meeting, a guy in a big hat poked his head in. I recognized Greg from years earlier and immediately said to myself, ‘Hey, Greg Gottlieb! There is a good idea for the director.’ The rest is history.”

Greg brought incredible knowledge, skills, and experience to the Center. Dyan Mazurana noted “Greg’s four years at the Center was the culmination of a distinguished career dedicated to improving many aspects of humanitarian action. The Center and the humanitarian sector will miss him when he retires.” Erin Coughlan de Perez recently reflected “Greg has an amazing capability to navigate the complexities of institutions. On several occasions, he has quickly summarized institutional incentives to explain a complex situation and offered thoughtful suggestions about how to work within systems to achieve our goals.”

Greg was also an excellent friend, mentor, and boss. Ann O’Brien, who has served the center under seven directors noted that she “enjoyed our talks about favorite recipes and the introduction to latkes! I am fortunate to have worked with Greg and appreciated his support for all of our staff during his tenure.” Anne Radday similarly noted, “Greg was constantly saying, ‘always take care of your people.’ His willingness to fight for his team made him an excellent leader.”

Greg particularly shined by supporting staff, faculty, and students when they needed a little help. Sabina Robillard highlighted Greg’s compassion “Greg showed up on one of the coldest days of the year, in the middle of the pandemic, outside of my apartment to help deliver a care package when I was going through surgery. Greg was always willing to show up where it counted most.”

All of us at the Feinstein Center want to congratulate Greg on an influential tenure at the Center, for a notable career in the humanitarian sector, and for his compassionate leadership.