Ambassador Frank Lavin at the Channel City Club

Frank Lavin is the Parikh Family Fellow at the University of Southern California's Dornsife Center for the Political Future

Frank Lavin served as Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Bush (43) Administration. In that capacity, Lavin served as lead trade negotiator for both China and India and was responsible for commercial policy, export promotion, and trade negotiations across the globe. Lavin was previously U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, where he helped negotiate the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

Lavin is active in U.S.-Asia policy, U.S. domestic politics, and trade policy matters. He serves as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution as well as a Trustee of the Asia Foundation and as a Director of the Asia Society of Northern California.

In the private sector, Lavin served in senior finance and management positions in Hong Kong and Singapore with Bank of America and Citibank. Lavin also served in the Bush (41) and Reagan Administrations, working in the Department of Commerce, Department of State, National Security Council, and White House. In the Reagan Administration, Lavin served as White House Political Director.

He is a columnist for Forbes.com and has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and elsewhere. Lavin is also the author of Inside the Reagan White House, The Smart Business Guide to China E-Commerce, co-author of Export Now, and author of Home Front to Battlefront, a World War II history book.

Lavin also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Advisory Board of ECIPE, a Brussels-based think tank. Lavin has participated in two humanitarian missions to Ukraine. He formerly served as a Lt Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves.

Lavin earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service and an M.S. in Chinese Language and History (both Georgetown University); an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from SAIS (Johns Hopkins University); and an M.B.A. in Finance from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania).

Event Details

• Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026
• Location: The University Club of Santa Barbara
• Registration: 3:15 PM
• Program: 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM (Reception to follow)