Biography of Frank Fahrenkopf

 In his role as the chief executive of the AGA, Fahrenkopf is the national advocate for the commercial casino industry and is responsible for positioning the association to address regulatory, political and educational issues affecting the industry.

A lawyer by profession, Frank Fahrenkopf gained national prominence during the 1980s when he served as chairman of the Republican Party for six of President Ronald Reagan?s eight years in the White House (1983 to 1989). When Fahrenkopf retired in January 1989, he had served as chairman of the Republican National Committee longer than any person in the 20th century (and second-longest in the history of the party) and led the party through two successful presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988.

Frank Fahrenkopf has been a frequent commentator on political and gaming issues on such network television programs as Crossfire, Inside Politics, Meet The Press, Hardball, Face the Nation, The Today Show, This Week and Good Morning America. Frank Fahrenkopf continues to serve in a variety of political capacities. He presently is co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which conducts the general election presidential and vice presidential debates in presidential election years.

He co-founded the commission in 1986 with Democratic National Committee chairman Paul Kirk. He also was a founder of the National Endowment for Democracy, where he served as vice chairman and a board member from 1983 to 1993. Additionally, he serves as a board member of the International Republican Institute (IRI), which he founded in 1984.

Prior to becoming the AGA's first chief executive on June 1, 1995, Frank Fahrenkopf was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Hogan & Hartson, where he chaired the International Trade Practice Group. Fahrenkopf specialized in regulatory, legislative and corporate matters for multi-national, foreign and domestic clients. His early legal career included 17 years of practice as a trial and gaming lawyer in Nevada, his home state. In that capacity, he represented clients before Nevada gaming regulatory authorities.

Frank Fahrenkopf served as the first chairman of the American Bar Association (ABA) Committee on Gaming Law and was a founding trustee and president of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys, a worldwide organization of government gaming regulators and private attorneys acting on behalf of licensed gaming enterprises.

Fahrenkopf also sits on the board of directors of five New York Stock Exchange public companies: First Republic Bank, Gabelli Equity Trust, Inc., Gabelli Utility Trust, Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust, and Gabelli Dividend and Income Trust.

He has been honored for his contributions, receiving the Junior Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award in 1973, the Nevada Lung Association "Man of the Year" Award in 1983 and the National Humanitarian of the Year Award from the National Conference on Christians and Jews in 1985. He is a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He also serves as a trustee of the Culinary Institute of America.

He and his wife, the former Mary Bandoni, have three daughters: Allison, a Washington, D.C., attorney; Leslie, associate counsel to President George W. Bush; and Amy, a medical resident at Boston Children's Hospital.