Antonio Weiss ’80
Antonio Weiss ’80 is a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Previously, he served as Counselor to the Secretary at the United States Department of the Treasury, where he worked on issues related to financial markets, regulatory reform, financial stability, and consumer and housing finance. He led the Treasury response to the debt crisis in Puerto Rico, working closely with Congress to pass legislation to allow an orderly restructuring of Puerto Rico’s debt. In recognition of his achievements at the Treasury, he was presented the Alexander Hamilton Award, the department’s highest honor.
Before joining the Treasury, he served in various leadership roles in the United States and Europe at Lazard, the financial advisory firm, most recently as Global Head of Investment Banking. Mr. Weiss is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Board Member of The Volcker Alliance. He was Publisher of the literary quarterly, The Paris Review, where he apprenticed to founder and editor George Plimpton (’40). He earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale College and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and Loeb Fellow. Antonio is the father of three St. Bernard’s Old Boys, Nico (’12), Otto (’15) and Cosimo (’18).
When asked about St. Bernard’s Mr. Weiss shared the following:
Favorite memories: “Nicknames. We all had them, and they were constantly changing. In just the fifth grade, Mr. McClung cycled through ‘Weiss-o,’ ‘wise-guy’ and ‘ox.’”
“The quiet period at the start of lunch hour. Chicken croquettes and shepherd’s pie. At the teacher’s cue, the last boy to lay his index finger on his nose had to clear the table.”
“Whistling through the Upper School song. The entire school singing with gusto.”
Favorite class: “Latin with Mr. Caslon and his famous Olympiad. After-school Greek with a 24-year old Stuart Johnson, reading from Thrasymachus.”
Favorite teacher: “Headmaster Esty Foster, a gentle presence in the school, always available to the boys.”
Advice to current students: “Tout s’arrange.”
