Dr. Stephen F. Szabo was the executive director of the Transatlantic Academy (TA).  The TA, which is a partnership between GMF and the Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius Zeit Stiftung of Hamburg, Germany, the Robert Bosch Stiftung of Stuttgart, Germany, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a forum for research and dialogue between scholars, policy experts, and authors from both sides of the Atlantic. The TA's purpose is to strengthen the transatlantic partnership by bringing together fellows to conduct intensive research and discussion on a single topic for a year, with the goal of introducing their research findings into the policy discussions on both sides of the Atlantic.  

As executive director, Szabo works with the partners of the TA to shape the research content of each term, assist in the recruitment and selection of  fellows, and manage the Academy.  Prior to joining GMF, he had been with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, where he served as academic and interim dean as well as professor of European studies. Prior to that, he had served as  professor of national security affairs at the National Defense University and chairman of West European Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State.  He has written on German foreign and security policies, generational politics in Europe, and transatlantic security and political relations. Most recently, he published a book entitled, Germany, Russia and the Rise of Geo-Economics, in which Szabo provides a description and analysis of German policy towards Russia, revealing how unified Germany is finding its global role in which its interests do not always coincide with the United States or its European partners. He explores the role of German business and finance in the shaping of foreign policy and investigates how Germany's Russia policy effects its broader foreign policy in the region and at how it is perceived by key outside players such as the United States, Poland and the EU. With reference to public, opinion, the media and think tanks Szabo reveals how Germans perceive Russians, and he uncovers the ways in which its dealings with Russia affect Germany in terms of the importing of corruption and crime.

He has held fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the American Academy in Berlin. Szabo received his Ph.D. from Georgetown University in political science and has a bachelor's and master's from the School of International Service, the American University.