{{Short description|American diplomat (born 1954)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = William Eacho |image = William Eacho III (3x4a).jpg |image_size = 225px |office = United States Ambassador to Austria |president = Barack Obama |term_start = September 14, 2009 |term_end = August 3, 2013 |predecessor = David Girard-diCarlo |successor = Alexa L. Wesner |birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}} |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |alma_mater = Duke University<br>Harvard Business School }} '''William Carlton Eacho III''' (born 1954)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/eacho-william-carlton|title=William Carlton Eacho III - People - Department History - Office of the Historian|website=history.state.gov|access-date=January 23, 2020}}</ref> is the former United States Ambassador to Austria.<ref>{{cite web |last =Sabir |first =Hind |title = Senate Confirms Nomination for Ambassador to the Republic of Austria |publisher =Targeted News Service |date =August 16, 2009 |url = http://targetednews.com/disp_story.php?s_id=996920|format = Press release |access-date = August 18, 2009}}</ref><ref name=GULF>{{cite news |title = US Senate confirms 20 diplomatic posts |newspaper = Gulf Times|date =August 8, 2009 |url =http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=307805&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19 |format = Press release |access-date = August 18, 2009}}</ref> Eacho was nominated by President Barack Obama in June 2009. He was confirmed by the US Senate and sworn in during August 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/130425.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017044724/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/130425.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 17, 2009|title=Biography - William C. Eacho, III|publisher=US State Department}}</ref> He succeeded David F. Girard-diCarlo as ambassador in 2009 and was succeeded by Alexa Wesner in September 2013. Eacho served as Chair or Co-Chair at IFES from 2023 through 2025[https://www.ifes.org/news/eacho-elected-new-ifes-board-Chairman], The International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Eacho is a co-founder and CEO of The [http://www.PartnershipForResponsibleGrowth.org Partnership For Responsible Growth],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.partnershipforresponsiblegrowth.org/team/|title=Team - The Partnership for Responsible Growth|access-date=January 23, 2020}}</ref> a bipartisan organization advocating for US legislation for a price on carbon emissions to counter the climate change threat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.partnershipforresponsiblegrowth.org/about|title=Our Team -|website=The Partnership for Responsible Growth|access-date=January 23, 2020}}</ref> Eacho also serves as Board Chair at [https://www.friendsofacadia.org/ Friends of Acadia] [https://www.friendsofacadia.org/about-us/board-governance/] and as Treasurer and Board of Trustees member at the American-Austrian Foundation [https://americanaustrianfoundation.org/officers-and-trustees/] From 2014 through 2020, Eacho was a Visiting Professor of the Practice at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholars.duke.edu/display/per5228642|title=William C Eacho | Scholars@Duke|website=scholars.duke.edu|access-date=January 23, 2020}}</ref> From 2013 to 2018, Ambassador Eacho was also affiliated with the Center for Transatlantic Relations as a Distinguished Fellow, as well as visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, with an expertise in global energy, environment, and security issues. He formerly served on the Energy and Security Task Force of the International Peace Institute.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/about/bios/William%20C%20Eacho|title=Biography - William C Eacho|publisher=[Center for Transatlantic Relations]}}</ref>
==Personal life== Eacho graduated ''magna cum laude'' from Duke University with a degree in Law and the Economy, a self-designed major combining political science and economics.<ref name=BIO>{{cite web |title = Biography: William C. Eacho, III |publisher = United States Embassy |year = 2009 |url = http://austria.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html |access-date = August 18, 2009 |archive-date = May 27, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100527093916/http://austria.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> Prior to attending Harvard Business School, from which he graduated with Distinction in 1979, he was a Financial Analyst in the Corporate Finance department of Hornblower & Weeks, in New York City, and was an associate with Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower & Company in Los Angeles.<ref name=BIO/>
Eacho was one of Obama's biggest campaign fundraisers, and he helped raise over $500,000. Eacho and his immediate family also donated $226,000 to federal politics in 2007-08, according to the OpenSecrets, a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks the effects of money and lobbying on elections and public policy.<ref name=boston.com>{{cite web |last =Burns |first =Robert |title = Big Obama campaign donors get ambassadorships |publisher = boston.com |date = June 25, 2009|url = http://archive.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2009/06/25/big_obama_campaign_donors_get_ambassadorships/ |access-date = July 5, 2013}}</ref>
He and his wife, Donna, have three sons.<ref name=BIO/>
==Professional== William Eacho was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Carlton Capital Group, LLC in Bethesda, Maryland<ref name="BIO" /> until 2009. He had previously served as the Executive Vice President of Alliant Foodservice Inc., then a $6 billion national foodservice distributor.<ref name="BIO" /> He served on three boards – Stanley Martin Companies, Inc., Bialek Corporation, Inc. and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington.<ref name=BIO/> Eacho also previously served on the Board of Visitors of Duke University's Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, on the Board of Trustees of Landon School, and has been a member of World President's Organization and Chief Executives Organization. Following a long-standing tradition established by previous U.S. ambassadors, he was also an ex officio member on the board of directors of the Salzburg Global Seminar<ref name=BIO/> from 2009 to 2013, was elected to full board membership in 2013, and served until 2017, when he was named a Senior Fellow.
Eacho serves on the board of directors of Friends of Acadia and the American-Austrian Foundation.
On September 24, 2013, Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer awarded Eacho the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in Gold with Sash, the first American ambassador to be so honored since Milton Wolf received it in 1980. The celebration was held at the residence of Martin Sajdik, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in New York.<ref>{{cite web |date = September 30, 2013|title = U.S. Ambassador William Eacho Honored |publisher = Austrian Information |url=http://austrianinformation.org/september-2013/2013/9/30/us-ambassador-william-eacho-honored.html |access-date = November 6, 2013}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Source-attribution|[http://austria.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html U.S. Embassy Vienna]}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef|before=David F. Girard-diCarlo}} {{s-ttl|title= U.S. Ambassador to Austria| years= 2009–2013}} {{s-aft| after=Alexa L. Wesner}} {{s-end}} {{US Ambassadors to Austria}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eacho, William}} Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Duke University alumni Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:People from Bethesda, Maryland Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Austria