Richard L. Morningstar (born 1945) is the former United States Ambassador to

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. He was formerly Special Envoy of the United States Secretary of State for Eurasian Energy. Currently, Ambassador Morningstar is the founding director and chairman of the Global Energy Center at the Atlantic Council. He also serves as a senior advisor at

Albright Stonebridge Group Dentons Global Advisors ASG, formerly Albright Stonebridge Group, is a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C., United States. It was created in 2009 through the merger of international consulting firms The Albright Group, found ...

, a global business strategy firm.

Education

Richard Morningstar earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

, magna cum laude, from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

and a Juris Doctor from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

in 1970.

Career

Morningstar started his career with the law firm of Peabody & Brown (now Nixon Peabody) in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, where he practiced law from 1970 to 1981. He then served as CEO of Costar Corporation, and since 1990 as the chairman of the board. Since June 1993, Morningstar served as senior vice president for Policy and Investment Development at the

Overseas Private Investment Corporation The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ...

. In April 1995, Morningstar was posted as the special advisor to the president and Secretary of State on Assistance to the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. His rank of ambassador was confirmed by the Senate on 11 June 1996. In July 1998, he was assigned as a special advisor to the president and the Secretary of State for Caspian Basin

Energy Diplomacy Energy diplomacy is a form of diplomacy, and a subfield of international relations. It is closely related to its principal, foreign policy, and to overall national security, specifically energy security. Energy diplomacy began in the first half of t ...

. In that capacity Morningstar was a promoter of the

Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is a long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and Ceyhan, a port on the south-easter ...

. In 1999–2001, Morningstar served as the

United States Ambassador to the European Union This is a list of United States ambassadors to the European Union. The formal title of this position is Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiar ...

. Beginning in 2001, Ambassador Morningstar served as a senior director at the global strategy firm Stonebridge International (no
Albright Stonebridge Group
On 20 April 2009, Ambassador Morningstar was named to the position of the Special Envoy of the United States Secretary of State for Eurasian Energy. In that capacity Morningstar represented the United States at the signing ceremony of the intergovernmental agreement of the

Nabucco pipeline The Nabucco pipeline (also referred as Turkey–Austria gas pipeline) was a failed natural gas pipeline project from Erzurum, Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, Austria to diversify natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe. The pi ...

. He has strongly opposed the possible participation of Iran in the Nabucco project. Morningstar has been a visiting scholar and diplomat in residence at the Stanford University Institute for International Studies, a lecturer in law at Stanford Law School and an adjunct professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Azərbaycan-ABŞ İKT Forumu (03

On 27 April 2012, Morningstar was nominated for the US Ambassadorship in Azerbaijan. On 30 June 2012, the U.S. Senate confirmed this appointment. In 2014 Morningstar was named director of th
Atlantic Council’s
New Global Energy Center.

Personal life

Richard Morningstar is married to Faith Pierce Morningstar, a former board member of the democracy promotion and human rights group Freedom House, with two sons and two daughters. He also has 12 grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morningstar, Richard L. Living people 1945 births Harvard College alumni Stanford Law School alumni People associated with energy Ambassadors of the United States to the European Union Ambassadors of the United States to Azerbaijan United States Special Envoys 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats