Robert Gelbard

Robert Gelbard

Member, Board of Directors

CEPA, United States

Ambassador (ret.) Robert S. Gelbard is an international business consultant. Ambassador Gelbard’s illustrious career spans thirty-five years, in which he has held numerous senior Foreign Service positions. He has served as President Clinton’s Special Representative to the Balkans, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Deputy and Acting Director for Western Europe, as well as serving as Ambassador to Indonesia, East Timor, and Bolivia. Gelbard was also President George H. W. Bush’s Special Representative for the 1992 San Antonio Summit and the U.S. Representative to the Paris Club. He also served on the 2008-2009 Obama-Biden national security transition team.

Ambassador Gelbard serves on various corporate boards in the United States, as well as on the Board of Directors of Foreign Policy for America. Gelbard is also a member of the Ohrid Group. Ambassador Gelbard has received numerous decorations and awards from the United States and foreign governments, including the Presidential Meritorious Award and the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia. He is a graduate of Colby College and Harvard University and was awarded honorary doctorate degrees by Villanova University Law School and Colby College for his work on international democracy-building and peacekeeping.