Mark Gitenstein


Mark Henry Gitenstein is an American lawyer who served as the United States Ambassador to Romania from 2009 to 2012. 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.

Ambassador to Romania

The Romanian English-language newsdaily selected Ambassador Gitenstein as "The Foreign Diplomat of the Year for 2011." Gitenstein worked to strengthen relations with Romania on a variety of issues, focusing on fighting corruption, improving transparency, and strengthening the rule of law. He actively promoted deeper development of Romania's equity markets, as well as a fair and transparent business environment for all investors. He also encouraged greater private sector involvement in state-owned enterprises, including the introduction of a corporate governance code for SOEs. As a means of promoting social change, Gitenstein worked with to establish , 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. was signed and negotiated during Gitenstein's tenure in Bucharest. Gitenstein travelled to Afghanistan three times to visit U.S. and Romanian troops. He was a human rights advocate for the country's minority Roma population.

Background and education

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 Gitenstein and has three children and five grandchildren.

Career

He was previously a law partner at Mayer Brown, beginning in 1989 and a "nonresident senior fellow" at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of Matters of Principle, and has been selected by his peers several times for inclusion in "Best Lawyers in America".
He was also on the advisory board for president-elect Barack Obama's presidential transition team. He was named as a leading choice to lead the Office of Legal Policy in the Department of Justice. but was rejected after public reports of his extensive work as a registered lobbyist for the US Chamber of Commerce.
Prior to his work at Mayer Brown, Gitenstein served as Chief Counsel and Minority Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, serving under then-Senator Joe Biden. Gitenstein also served as Counsel to the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Honours