President Barack Obama Name Eleni Kounalakis Preceded by April H. Foley Spouse Markos Kounalakis | Succeeded by Colleen Bell Political party Democratic Party Religion Greek Orthodox | |
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Alma mater Dartmouth College (A.B.) University of California, Berkeley (M.B.A.) Education Dartmouth College, University of California, Berkeley | ||
Interview with her excellency eleni tsakopoulos kounalakis u s ambassador to hungary
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis (born 1966) is the former United States Ambassador to Hungary until July 2013. She was sworn into office by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on January 7, 2010. She presented her credentials to the President of Hungary, László Sólyom on January 11, 2010.
Contents
- Interview with her excellency eleni tsakopoulos kounalakis u s ambassador to hungary
- New u s ambassador eleni tsakopoulos kounalakis presents her credentials to president s lyom
- References
Before accepting President Obama’s nomination to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis was president of AKT Development Corporation, one of California’s largest land development firms. Ambassador Kounalakis earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. In 2011, she received an Honorary Doctor of Law from the American College of Greece.
Ambassador Kounalakis and her husband, veteran print and broadcast journalist Markos Kounalakis, founded two university chairs in Hellenic studies, the Markos and Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis chair at Georgetown University,, held by the scholar of late Classical and early Hellenistic Greek literature, Dr. Alexander Sens, and the Tsakopoulos Kounalakis chair in honor of Constantine Mitsotakis at Stanford University, held by Josiah Ober. Both chairs focus on the understanding of the origins of Athenian democracy. They also established the Tsakopoulos Kounalakis lecture series at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to focus on democracy and international relations.
Ambassador Kounalakis served for nearly ten years as a Trustee of the World Council of Religions for Peace. In recognition for her work with the WCRP, she was awarded the medal of St. Paul, the Greek Orthodox Church of America’s highest honor. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed her to serve as a Trustee of the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.
Ambassador Kounalakis served four times as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and as an at-large member of the California State Central Committee. She also served as a member of the First 5 California Commission, and the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism. She served as a Trustee of Robert Redford’s Sundance Preserve and on the Conservation Fund’s National Forum on Children and Nature.
Ambassador Kounalakis and her husband have two children.
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis is the daughter of Angelo Tsakopoulos, a Sacramento developer and key fundraiser for Team Hillary during Hillary Clinton's first presidential bid in 2008.
Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, was appointed Ambassador to Hungary in 2010, and sworn in by Clinton, who was Secretary of State of the United States at that time. On April 24, 2017, Eleni Kounalakis announced her bid for Lieutenant Governor of California in the 2018 Election.
She is also a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group.