Mark Gitenstein
| Mark Gitenstein | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Ambassador to Romania | |
|
In office August 28, 2009 – December 14, 2012 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Taubman |
| Succeeded by | Duane Butcher |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 7, 1946 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater |
Duke University Georgetown University |
Mark Henry Gitenstein is a retired American politician who served as the United States Ambassador to Romania. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on June 11, 2009 and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 8, 2009. As of December 14, 2012 he has completed his diplomatic assignment and has returned to private life in the United States.
The Romanian English-language newsdaily Nine O’Clock selected Ambassador Gitenstein as the “The Foreign Diplomat of the Year for 2011.” Gitenstein has worked to strengthen relations with Romania on a variety of issues, focusing on fighting corruption, improving transparency, and strengthening the rule of law. He has actively promoted deeper development of Romania’s equity markets, as well as a fair and transparent business environment for all investors. He has also encouraged greater private sector involvement in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including the introduction of a corporate governance code for SOEs. As a means of promoting social change, Gitenstein worked with TechSoup Romania to establish Restart Romania, a project designed to demonstrate the power of the internet and social media to find solutions to social justice problems, support transparency of public institutions, and promote grass roots efforts to fight corruption.The U.S. – Romanian Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement was signed and negotiated during Gitenstein’s tenure in Bucharest. Gitenstein travelled to Afghanistan three times to visit U.S. and Romanian troops. He has been a human rights advocate for the country’s minority Roma population.
Gitenstein is of Romanian Jewish heritage, as his grandparents were immigrants from Botoșani, Romania in the late 19th century. He went to high school at the private Indian Springs School in Indian Springs, Alabama, graduating in 1964. He attended Duke University and Georgetown Law School. He is married to Elizabeth (Libby) Gitenstein and has three children and five grandchildren.
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