Leadership

Joe Bankoff was appointed Chair of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in July 2012 following six years as President & CEO of Atlanta’s Woodruff Arts Center and 34 years as a senior litigation partner at the Atlanta-based law firm of King & Spalding where he founded and led the firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology Practice. He served as the Nunn School Chair for 7 years and is now a Distinguished Professor of the Practice.

Mr. Bankoff's experience and expertise ranges across law and policy, economic development, legislation, fiscal planning, and global issues. He has served as Chair of the Board of the Midtown Alliance (the planning unit for Atlanta’s exploding Midtown) and continues to serve on its Executive Committee. He now Chairs the Board of the Georgia Foreign Trade Zone, is Vice Chair of the National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children in foster care and is the appointed Chair of the Fulton County Arts Council.

Mr. Bankoff’s role as Chair of the Nunn School has given him remarkable opportunities to explore and seek to understand a wide range of global challenges. He has traveled and lectured on his interests in innovation ecosystems and economic development in China and Europe. He represented Georgia Tech at Economic Development Conferences in Shenzhen China, at the China European International Business School in Shanghai and in the Urban Innovation Dialogs in Bilbao Spain. He created two innovative courses: “Global Issues and Leadership” and “Law and Global Innovation” using technology to create a “virtual global classroom” with students and guests located in Paris, Moscow and Berlin.

Mr. Bankoff’s association with Georgia Tech spans more than 30 years. Focusing on his expertise in Intellectual Property and Technology he advised Georgia Tech on technology licensing and assisted in creating the first Sam Nunn Policy Forums on INFORMATION SECURITY. He joined the Advisory Board of Georgia Tech’s College of Computing serving as its Vice Chair for 10 years. He was also a board member of the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT). He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Georgia Tech’s IRB, and Chairs the Nominating Committee for the Institute’s Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage.

Mr. Bankoff’s law practice covered a wide range of technology and communications issues spanning the growth of digital technology. He represented major firms such as GE, the Coca-Cola Company and UPS, Scientific Atlanta, a range of startup firms and communications entities including NBC, ABC, COX Enterprises and the New York Times. He representedOlympicOrganizing Committees in Atlanta and Sydney in the negotiation of global television broadcast rights. For his work revising television rights to anticipate the growth of the global Internet he was awarded the Centennial Medal by the IOC.

Mr. Bankoff received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management from Purdue University. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois. In 1992, he took a sabbatical from his law firm to accept an appointment as a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property & Competition Law, Munich, Germany, where he worked on the development of the Satellite Directive for the European Union.

Mr. Bankoff and his wife Lisa live in Atlanta, Georgia.