Carl Spielvogel
b. 1928, New York - d. 2021, New York
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April 2021 - The Diplomacy Center Foundation Remembers Ambassador Carl Spielvogel. Learn More
Service History
US Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, 2000 – 2001
Biography
Ambassador Carl Spielvogel served as the US ambassador to the Slovak Republic from 2000 to 2001. For his outstanding service to Slovakia, President Rudolf Schuster presented him with the Presidential Medal of Honor of Slovakia.
Ambassador Spielvogel had over 35 years of experience in the world of international trade, doing business in 55 countries. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of three of the world's largest global marketing and communications companies, including Backer Spielvogel Bates Worldwide, Inc. He also served as vice chairman and a member of the Board of Directors of the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. From 1994 to 1997, he was chairman and chief executive officer of the United Auto Group, Inc. At that time, it was the nation's largest publicly owned auto dealership group and one of the first automobile dealership groups to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Ambassador Spielvogel began his working career as a copy boy in the news department, then a reporter, and a six-times-a-week columnist for The New York Times. He was chairman of the International Advisory Board of The Financial Times. He was a fellow at The Center for Business and Government at The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a member of the Executive Committee and The Board of Trustees of The Asia Society, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the Council for the Study of Europe at Columbia University.
In 1995, Ambassador Spielvogel was appointed by President William J. Clinton and approved by the US Senate to serve on the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is responsible for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and all other non-military broadcast media of the US government.
Ambassador Spielvogel was deeply involved in cultural affairs. He has been a board member of the following organizations: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, and The Asia Society. He also served for 20 years as a trustee of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and Eureka Communities, which works to rebuild inner cities.
A native of New York City, Ambassador Spielvogel held a bachelor of business administration degree and an honorary doctor of laws degree from Baruch College of The City University of New York. In 1990, he was the recipient of Baruch's Distinguished Alumnus Award for outstanding career accomplishment. In 2003, he set up the Colin Powell Fellowship Program at Baruch College to encourage outstanding graduates to seek career opportunities at the US Department of State. He is also a member of the executive committee and board of trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY)—the nation’s largest state university system in the US, comprised of 65 college campuses with approximately 600,000 students.
He was married to Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, author of eighteen books on art, architecture, and public policy.