The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) presented Albert A. “Bert” Foer, Founder of the American Antitrust Institute, with AAI’s 2020 Alfred E. Kahn Award for Antitrust Achievement. The award presentation will took place on Wednesday, October 28, 2020.
“This year’s achievement award is particularly special,” said AAI President Diana Moss. “As we honor AAI’s founder, especially at this pivotal time for antitrust, we will all take a step back to consider the significance of what Bert has accomplished for competition advocacy, consumers, and advancing the case for vigorous enforcement. We could not be more delighted to present Bert with this award.”
The one-hour program was introduced by AAI President Diana Moss, and featured Bert Foer’s acceptance remarks and a presentation by Professor Eleanor Fox. Concurrences CEO Nicholas Charbit, AAI Director Greg Gundlach, and AAI Board Chairman Pamela Gilbert, also made appearances.
Foer founded AAI in 1998 and served as president from founding until 2014. He created the first public interest research, education, and advocacy organization to provide a counterpoint to conservative influence in antitrust enforcement and competition policy. Foer organized individuals who care about antitrust, gave them the power of organization and a sense of community, and helped reignite the passion for the enforcement of the antitrust laws. Foer’s article about the founding of AAI can be found here.
Before founding the AAI in 1998, Foer was in private law practice in Washington D.C. and in the Federal Senior Executive Service as Assistant Director and Acting Deputy Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition.
Foer has published numerous articles, book chapters, and reviews relating to competition policy. He is editor of The Next Antitrust Agenda and co-editor of The International Handbook on Private Enforcement of Competition Law and of Private Enforcement of Antitrust Law in the United States. In June 2015, The Antitrust Bulletin published a symposium issue, Recognizing Bert Foer and his AAI Founding and Presidency. His Liber Amicorum is forthcoming from Concurrences in 2020.
“Bert had the foresight to create an institute to support the antitrust community and lead the way in advocacy and research. With AAI, he built a lasting legacy that continues to fight every day for vigorous antitrust enforcement and strong competition policy. Bert’s dedication to AAI and leadership in the antitrust community makes him the ideal recipient of the AAI Antitrust Achievement Award,” said AAI Board of Directors Chair Pamela Gilbert.
The AAI Alfred E. Kahn Award for Antitrust Achievement, first presented in 2000, honors outstanding contributions to the field of antitrust. Foer is the 22nd recipient of the award and joins the following past honorees: Joel Klein, Robert Pitofsky, F.M. Scherer, Alfred E. Kahn, Lloyd Constantine, Thomas B. Leary, Senators Herb Kohl and Mike DeWine, Maxwell Blecher, John Shenefield, Eleanor M. Fox, Steven Salop, Mario Monti, Roger G. Noll, Kathleen Foote, John M. Connor, Donald I. Baker, Jonathan W. Cuneo, William Baer, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Stephen Calkins.
AAI was pleased to recognize Concurrences and The Antitrust Bulletin in the awards program, both of which have featured contributions by and about Bert Foer over the course of his professional career. Concurrences is publishing a tribute book in Bert’s honor, the Albert A. Foer Liber Amicorum: A Consumer Voice in the Antitrust Arena. The book gathers contributions from academics, enforcers and lawyers, many of whom are AAI members, and includes an introduction by Robert Lande and Randy Stutz as well as a foreword by Diana Moss.
