Jeffrey Herbst

{{Short description|American political scientist}}

{{BLP sources|date=November 2009}}

{{use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Jeffrey Herbst

| image =

| caption =

| office = 4th President of American Jewish University

| term_start = July 1, 2018

| term_end = May 5, 2025

| predecessor = Robert Wexler

| successor =

| office1 = 16th President of Colgate University

| term_start1 = July 1, 2010

| term_end1 = June 30, 2015

| predecessor1 = Rebecca Chopp

| successor1 = Brian Casey

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|3|24}}

| birth_place = Queens, New York, U.S.

| spouse = Sharon Polansky

| children = 3

| education = Princeton University (BA)
Yale University (MA, MPhil, PhD)

| footnotes =

}}

Jeffrey I. Herbst is an American political scientist, specializing in comparative politics, and was the fourth president of the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California from July 2018 to May 2025.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aju.edu/news-events/aju-announces-jeffrey-herbst-phd-new-president|title=AJU Announces Jeffrey Herbst, PHD as New President |publisher= American Jewish University|date=June 4, 2018}}{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Jewish Journal |date=2025-05-05 |title=AJU President Jeff Herbst Resigns; Jay Sanderson to Become Interim President |url=https://jewishjournal.com/community/381225/aju-president-jeff-herbst-resigns-jay-sanderson-to-become-interim-president/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}} Herbst was previously the 16th president of Colgate University, and president and CEO of the Newseum in Washington, D.C.{{cite news|title=Jeffrey Herbst Selected as Newseum President and CEO|url=http://www.newseum.org/press-info/press-releases/?pr=105|access-date=July 9, 2015}} He resigned from his post at the Newseum in 2017 as the museum announced financial issues.{{cite news|title=Newseum's president steps down as financial review begins|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/newseums-president-steps-down-as-financial-review-begins/2017/08/28/bc76218e-8c52-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Margaret |last=Sullivan|date=August 28, 2017|access-date=August 28, 2017}} Prior to assuming the presidency of Colgate in 2010,{{cite news|title=Herbst named 16th President of Colgate University|url=http://www.wktv.com/news/local/70214622.html|access-date=July 30, 2010|newspaper=WKTV|date=November 16, 2009|archive-date=February 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202114550/http://www.wktv.com/news/local/70214622.html|url-status=dead}} he was provost, executive vice president for academic affairs, and professor of political science at Miami University. He received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1983, M.A., MPhil from Yale University in 1985, and Ph.D. in 1987 also from Yale. He is married to Sharon Polansky, with whom he has three children, Matthew, Spencer, and Alana.

Herbst has written extensively on political and international affairs in Africa.{{cite news|title=The World Bank's Diminishing Role in Africa|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/opinion/global/the-world-banks-diminishing-role-in-africa.html?_r=0.|access-date= January 14, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Jeffrey|last= Herbst |author2= Greg Mills|date= July 11, 2013}} He is the author of State Politics in Zimbabwe (Perspectives on Southern Africa) and States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control (Princeton University Press, 2000), which received the 2001 Luebbert Best Book Award{{cite news|title=Luebbert Best Book Award Winners 2001|url=http://www.apsanet.org/content.asp?contentid=215|access-date= January 14, 2015|newspaper=American Political Science Organization|date= January 14, 2015}} in comparative politics for the year 2000 from the American Political Science Association. It was also a finalist for the 2001 Melville J. Herskovits Award for the best book in African studies awarded by the African Studies Association.{{cite web|title=Biographies - Jeffrey Herbst|url=http://www.colgate.edu/about/people-of-colgate/president-jeffrey-herbst/biography|work=Colgate University|publisher=Colgate U.|access-date= June 6, 2011}}

Herbst has two siblings, his sister Susan Herbst who was the President of the University of Connecticut, and his brother Steve Herbst, who is Vice President of broadcasting and global media strategy for NASCAR.{{cite web|title=Newseum named former Colgate president as its next CEO|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/newseum-names-former-colgate-president-as-its-next-ceo/2015/07/09/2a7349f0-264d-11e5-b77f-eb13a215f593_story.html|work=The Washington Post|first=Peggy|last=McGlone|date=July 5, 2015}}