Ronald P. Spogli
Ronald P. Spogli is the former United States Ambassador to the Italian Republic and to the Republic of San Marino. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 30, 2005 and served until February 6, 2009. In 2008, he received the Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, the only honor given by the State Department to a political appointee ambassador.
In 1983, together with Bradford M. Freeman, Ambassador Spogli founded Freeman Spogli & Co., one of the leading private equity investors in the United States. Based in Los Angeles and with offices in New York, Freeman Spogli & Co. has invested in 42 companies with aggregate values in excess of $16 billion. In the course of his activities with the company, Ambassador Spogli has served on the board of directors of over 20 different companies.
As a result of his university and life experiences, Ambassador Spogli is a champion of international studies and a dedicated supporter of his alma mater, Stanford University, where he has endowed two university positions: the Gesue and Helen Spogli Professorship in Italian Studies and The Spogli Family Overseas Study Director position at the Florence, Italy campus. Together with his business partner and friend for over 25 years, Bradford M. Freeman, he endowed The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). FSI is Stanford University's primary center for rigorous and innovative research on major international issues and challenges. FSI builds on Stanford's impressive intellectual strength and exacting academic standards through interdisciplinary research conducted by its university-wide faculty, researchers, and visiting scholars.
Ambassador Spogli served on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board from 2002 until 2005.
A California native, Ambassador Spogli received his A.B. in history from Stanford University in 1970 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year. He earned an MBA degree at Harvard Business School in 1975. Having lived and worked abroad in Florence and Milan for two years during his time at Stanford, he became fluent in Italian and developed a keen interest in international affairs.
Ambassador Spogli was born in Los Angeles on March 25, 1948 and is married to Georgia Beth Caudle. They have two children.
