Mark Gitenstein has been US ambassador to the European Union since January 2022. He recently retired from the law offices of Mayer Brown LLP, where he had served as partner and counsel.
Gitenstein served as US ambassador to Romania from 2009 to 2012. He worked on the US Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees for 17 years prior to that, 13 of which under then-Senator Joe Biden. He co-chaired Biden’s transition to the vice presidency in 2008 and assisted his transition to the presidency in 2020.
Gitenstein has spent much of the last decade working in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Romania. Since 2009 he has, either as ambassador or as counsel to NGOs and commercial clients, focused on preserving and fortifying democracy by ensuring transparency in equity markets, fighting corruption, and strengthening the rule of law.
Gitenstein was awarded the Star of Romania, that nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2012. In 1993, he was awarded the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award for his book, “Matters of Principle”, about his role as chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee during its consideration of Robert Bork’s nomination as associate justice of the US Supreme Court.
Gitenstein holds a law degree from Georgetown Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Duke University.