Michael R. Wenger
Michael R. Wenger of Mitchellville, MD, is Senior Fellow and Acting Vice President for Civic Engagement and Governance at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC and an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University. Prior to coming to the Joint Center in October, 1998, Mr. Wenger was Deputy Director for Outreach and Program Development for President Clinton’s Initiative on Race. From 1981 to 1997 he served as States' Washington Representative for the Appalachian Regional Commission, and from 1977 to 1981 he held key policy-making positions in the administration of then-WV Governor John D. Rockefeller IV. His memoir, My Black Family, My White Privilege: A White Man's Journey Through the Nation's Racial Minefield, was published in November, 2012. Mr. Wenger was born in New York City and educated at Queens College of the City University of New York, where he was a leader in the civil rights struggles of the early 1960s. He is married and has three grown children, four grandchildren, and a great grandchild.
