Ronald P. Spogli (born 1948) is an American venture capitalist and politician. He is the former
United States Ambassador to Italy and
to San Marino. He was confirmed by the
U.S. Senate on June 30, 2005, after being nominated by
President George W. Bush on June 9. He was preceded by
Mel Sembler as ambassador to Italy and is the first American ambassador to
San Marino from the United States. This new position was created as a result of the
excellent relations between the two countries.
Early life
In 1948, Spogli was born in
Los Angeles,
California.
Education
Spogli received an A.B. in history from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
in 1970, and was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year. He earned an
M.B.A. in 1975 from
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
, where he was future president George W. Bush's roommate.
He lived abroad in
Florence and
Milan for two years during his time at Stanford, and became fluent in the
Italian language.
Career
Spogli is a co-founder of
Freeman Spogli & Co., a
private equity investment firm. Before that he was a managing director in the Investment Banking Division of
Dean Witter Reynolds. In 2002, President Bush appointed Spogli to a three-year term with the
J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship board. Spogli quit working at Freeman Spogli & Co. on July 31, 2005, and was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Italy on August 10, 2005, and to San Marino in September 2006.
He left post on February 6, 2009. He received the America Award of the
Italy-USA Foundation in 2016.
See also
*
Bradford M. Freeman
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spogli, Ronald P.
1948 births
Living people
Ambassadors of the United States to Italy
Ambassadors of the United States to San Marino
American expatriates in Italy
American financial company founders
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
California Republicans
Harvard Business School alumni
Stanford University alumni
Stanford University trustees
American people of Italian descent
21st-century American diplomats