Randolph Marshall Bell (born 1947) is a former Ambassador of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Education

Randolph Marshall Bell went to the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

and to the

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. Further he completed Advanced East European Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute and attended the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

Career

In August 1972 he entered the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

. He was assigned to postings in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

as well as to the State Department Operations Center. Subsequently he started working for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he was facing Soviet and East European political issues (1984–1985). After serving as Political-Economic Counselor in

from 1985 to 1988, he was becoming Political Counselor in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. From 1993 to 1996 he directed the Office of Russian and Eurasian Affairs in the

Bureau of Intelligence and Research The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is ...

. He also served as Director of the Office of

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

(1996–1999), managing U.S. policy for relations with these countries. In September 1999 he went to Bern to serve as interim Chargé d'Affaires. In the summer of 2000 he returned, to take up his assignment as Director for

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Switzerland and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Affairs. In 2003 he was retired from the U.S. State Department. In the end of June 2009 he also took a step down from being the executive director of the World Affairs Council of Greater Richmond. He has remained a member of the board of directors.

Engagement for Holocaust remembrance

Mr. Bell has put a great effort on issues related to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. He was leading the U.S. team that helped organize the London Conference on

Nazi Gold Nazi gold (german: Raubgold, "stolen gold") is gold possessed by Nazi Germany. Much of the focus of the discussion is about how much of this was transferred by Germany to overseas banks during World War II; the ruling Nazi party executed a policy o ...

in December 1997. Further he negotiated the successful closeout of the postwar Tripartite Gold Commission. Also he played an important role in establishing the $61 million Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund, which tries to relief needy victimes who had previously received little or no compensation and also provides resources for projects aimed at preventing similar injustices in the future. Mr. Bell was working closely with the Treasury Deputy Secretary Stuart E. Eizenstat, negotiating the agreements concluded with

in 2000 and 2001 for refunds to former

forced laborers and to individuals who lost property during that period. As Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the German Foundation, Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future and as an observer to the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims. Further he is on the board of the

Virginia Holocaust Museum The Virginia Holocaust Museum (VHM) is a public history museum located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The museum is dedicated to depicting the Holocaust through the personal stories of its victims. History The VHM first opened in 1997, fou ...

and part of the International Council of the

Austrian Service Abroad The Austrian Service Abroad is a non-profit organization founded by Andreas Hörtnagl, Andreas Maislinger and Michael Prochazka in 1998, which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in f ...

. On 25 February 2004 Ambassador Randolph M. Bell received the

Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

.Ambassador Randolph M. Bell awarded by the Republic of Austria (Austrian Information, May/June 2004)
/ref> He has also received the Department of State's Superior Honor Award, four times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Randolph M. 1947 births Living people Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Ambassadors of the United States to Austria