Paul Tagliabue served as the Commissioner (CEO) of the National Football League from 1989 until September 1, 2006.  

Tagliabue is now engaged in a range of endeavors, including in business advisory services and  higher education. 

Tagliabue is the Chair-elect of the Georgetown University board of directors and chairs the board of the Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce of the State University of New York (SUNY) in New York City.  He also serves on the boards of other civic and non-profit organizations.

Tagliabue has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, and has often engaged in business, higher education and public policy discussions in Asia (including in Japan, China, India) and Europe with representatives of business, government and academia.   

Tagliabue served with distinction as NFL Commissioner and presided over an extended period of labor peace and revenue growth 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.

Before becoming the NFL’s CEO, Tagliabue represented the league and other clients at the Covington & Burling law firm.  He earlier served in the U.S. Department of Defense as a policy analyst, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  Tagliabue has now rejoined Covington & Burling as senior of counsel with offices in Washington and New York.  He serves as a business advisor on Panasonic’s Global Advisory Group.

Born in 1940, Tagliabue graduated in 1962 from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  He received his law degree in 1965 with honors at New York University School of Law, and he has since received honorary degrees from several universities.