Amy Laura Bondurant (born April 20, 1951) is an American attorney who served as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 1997 to 2001. Bondurant was the first woman to represent the United States at the OECD and was also the first woman to serve on the board of Rolls-Royce.

Early life and education

Born in Union City,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Bondurant grew up in Hickman,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Her father was Judge John C. Bondurant and her mother was Doris Bondurant. Bondurant attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, where she received her bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1973 In 1978, Bondurant received her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from Washington College of Law of the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Career

Staffing and legal career

Bondurant began her career as a legislative assistant for Senator Wendell Ford. As the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Ford pushed for the nomination of Bondurant to serve on the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

(FTC) in 1982, though this position went to

George W. Douglas George Warren Douglas (August 10, 1938 - February 10, 2012) was an American economist who served as a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from December 27, 1982, until September 18, 1985. Though a member of the Democratic Party, Douglas wa ...

instead. Bondurant later became a partner and board member of the law firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand. Bondurant was the first female member of the firm's board of directors and executive committee.

Federal government career

In 1993, Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña appointed Bondurant to serve as chairwoman of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. Bondurant served in this capacity until 1997, when she was appointed by President Bill Clinton as U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Post-government career

In 2007, Bondurant endorsed Senator

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

's 2008 presidential campaign, alongside over a hundred Clinton Administration alumni. Bondurant remained active in the foreign policy sphere, joining the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

and speaking out in support of Clinton's plan to defeat

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

during the 2016 campaign.

Personal life

Bondurant is married to David E. Dunn III, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based firm

Squire Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the ...

LLP. They have one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bondurant, Amy L. 1951 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development American women ambassadors Ambassadors of the United States People from Fulton County, Kentucky University of Kentucky alumni Washington College of Law alumni 21st-century American women