Stuart A. Bernstein
b. 1938, District of Columbia -
Service History
US Ambassador to Denmark, 2001 – 2005
Biography
A native Washingtonian, Stuart A. Bernstein has led a six-decade career marked by a commitment to family, faith, community, and country. While the capstone of a lifetime of service was his appointment in 2001 as US ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark by President George W. Bush, he has been a leader and innovator in business, philanthropy, international trade policy, and educational and cultural affairs since the early 1960s.
During a long and successful career leading The Bernstein Companies to ever-greater success in commercial real estate development, Ambassador Bernstein always gave back to the civic groups and institutions that contributed to his personal and professional success and that he considers vital to the health and vitality of his hometown and his country.
A 1960 graduate of American University, Ambassador Bernstein was a member of its Board of Trustees for nearly 20 years and served as vice chairman from 1989 to 1997. President George H. W. Bush recognized Ambassador Bernstein’s public-spirited commitment to service with appointments to the International Cultural and Trade Center Commission in 1991 and the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1992.
Ambassador Bernstein’s distinguished tenure in Copenhagen, Denmark, was marked from the beginning by the attacks of September 11, 2001. On that day, he was flying from Denmark to the United States when the SAS pilot called him to the cockpit and said, “Mr. Ambassador, your country is under attack.” The flight turned around and, after a refueling stop in Iceland, returned late that night to Copenhagen. In the days that followed and throughout President Bush’s first term, Ambassador Bernstein played a key role in ensuring close relations between the Bush Administration and the government of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, elected in November 2001. He also established close and fruitful working relationships with Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II and Crown Prince Frederik.
Ambassador Bernstein also promoted stronger business, cultural, and educational ties between the United States and Denmark. He served as honorary chair of the American Chamber of Commerce and the Danish-American Business Forum–committed to mutually beneficial trade and investment relations. He also served as the honorary chair of the Danish-American Fulbright Commission, which promotes higher education exchanges between the two countries.
Currently, Ambassador Bernstein serves on the Board of Trustees of the Council of American Ambassadors and on the Board of the Diplomacy Center Foundation, where he chairs the Foundation’s Founding Ambassadors Society. He is a member of the Council of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a trustee of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and a Society of Fellows member of the Aspen Institute.
Ambassador Bernstein has been married to the former Wilma Estrin for more than six decades. They have three grown children: Brian, Adam, and Alison; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.