Lanny Griffith
Founding Partner, BGR Group
Lanny Griffith serves as Chairman of BGR Group, which he has guided from its earliest days by maintaining a consistent focus on the firm’s clients and their needs. He has put together industry coalitions and successfully battled some of strongest and best-funded lobbying operations in Washington. Lanny has also helped companies navigate major mergers and acquisitions and secured funding for universities and medical research.
Having worked in the White House when the Berlin Wall came down, Lanny has leveraged that experience with BGR clients in Eastern Europe, helping governments, political parties and private companies transition to democracy and a market economy.
Lanny joined BGR in 1993 after serving in several roles in the Administration of President George H.W. Bush. On Jan. 20, 1989, Lanny was sworn in as Special Assistant to the President in the East Room of the White House, serving as President Bush’s liaison to governors and other statewide elected officials. At the White House, he was a principal architect of President Bush’s 1989 Education Summit in Charlottesville, Va., and also was involved in the development of the National Goals for Education.
In 1991, President Bush nominated Lanny to be Assistant Secretary of Education, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February 1992. At the U.S. Department of Education, Lanny directed Secretary Lamar Alexander’s successful effort to build a national consensus around educational standards and testing. He also managed the launch of the G.I. Bill for Children and coordinated the administration’s role on the National Education Goals Panel.
On the international front, Lanny represented the U.S. on the Education Committee of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also served as Co-Chairman of the Advisory Council on Dependent Education, which serves as the school board for all dependent schools worldwide under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Defense.