Trevor Traina

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Trevor Traina
Trevor D. Traina official photo.jpg
United States Ambassador to Austria
In office
May 24, 2018 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byAlexa L. Wesner
Succeeded byRobin Dunnigan (acting)
Personal details
Born1968 (age 52–53)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)Alexis Swanson
ParentsDiane Buchanan Wilsey
John Traina
RelativesWiley Buchanan (grandfather)
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
University of Oxford
Haas School of Business (MBA)
OccupationBusinessman

Trevor D. Traina (born 1968) is an American businessman who served as the United States Ambassador to Austria from 2018 to 2021.

Early life[]

Traina was born in San Francisco, California in 1968. He is the son of Diane Buchanan Wilsey and the shipping magnate and art collector John Traina. His younger brother Todd is a film producer. His maternal grandfather, Wiley T. Buchanan Jr. was U.S. Ambassador to Austria from 1975 to 1977.[1]

Trevor Traina graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in politics in 1990, having written a 112-page long senior thesis titled "The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: A Model for the Future?".[2] He later studied at the University of Oxford and at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business where he graduated as Master of Business Administration.[3]

Career[]

Traina started his career as brand manager at Seagram's. As an entrepreneur, he was involved in the creation of CompareNet, which was bought by Microsoft in 1999.[4] In total he founded or co-founded five technology startus which were all sold. The most recent was IfOnly which was sold to MasterCard in August of 2020 [5]

Traina was an honorary advisor to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Haas School of Business, the Princeton University Art Museum and other institutions. He wrote columns for Huffington Post[6] and for Town and Country magazine.

Ambassador to Austria[]

On January 23, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Traina to become Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Austria.[7] The post had been vacant since January 2017. The U.S. Senate confirmed Traina's nomination on March 22, 2018.[citation needed] He was unanimously confirmed [8]

Traina was sworn in on March 29, 2018 and arrived in Vienna on May 18, 2018 to present his credentials.[9] Traina subsequently presented his credentials on May 24, 2018.[10]

Traina risked controversy for supporting the LGBTQ community by flying a rainbow flag at the Embassy during Vienna Pride despite a ban from the State Department on doing so.[11]

Awards[]

The Secretary of Defense awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service to Traina in January 2021. The Chancellor of Austria awarded Traina the Austrian Grand Declaration of Honor in Gold in January 2021. Traina has been awarded over two dozen patents from the USPTO

Personal life[]

Traina is married to Alexis Swanson Traina and has two children.[12] His hobby is collecting photographs, an exhibition of his collection in summer 2012 at the Fine Arts Museum was discussed in the media.[13][14] Traina made a major loan of photographs to the Albertina museum in Vienna for the Fall 2021 exhibition American Photography. [15]

References[]

  1. ^ W.T. Buchanan was also US Ambassador to Luxembourg (1956) and under U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower US Protocol Chief.
  2. ^ Traina, Trevor Dow. Princeton University. Department of Politics (ed.). "The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: A Model for the Future?". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ ORF.at (January 22,2018): IT millionaire becomes new US ambassador; accessed July 6, 2018.(in German)
  4. ^ "IfOnly – Extraordinary Experiences for Good". IfOnly. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  5. ^ https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/24/mastercard-acquired-and-shut-down-ifonly-an-experiences-marketplace-hit-by-covid-19/
  6. ^ author profile of Trevor Traina at Huffington Post, retrieved on January 24, 2018.
  7. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Trevor Traina of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Austria". whitehouse.gov. January 22, 2018 – via National Archives.
  8. ^ https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/1517
  9. ^ "Ambassador-Designate Trevor D. Traina". U.S. Embassy in Austria. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  10. ^ "Ambassador presented his credentials". U.S. Embassy in Austria. May 25, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  11. ^ Garchik, Leah (June 12, 2019). "Cheering the red, white and blue ... and green, purple, yellow". San Francisco Chronicle.
  12. ^ Wine: Alexis Swanson Traina and Target launch...; by Jessica Yadegaran, San Jose Mercury News, published on November 21, 2013
  13. ^ cf. Kevin Moore: Real to Real: Photographs from the Traina Collection. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. ISBN 9780884011347. 2012
  14. ^ New York Times (March 16,2013): Turmoil at Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, accessed on January 24, 2018
  15. ^ https://www.albertina.at/site/assets/files/12070/presskit_american_photography_eng.pdf

External links[]

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Alexa L. Wesner 		United States Ambassador to Austria
2018–2021 		Succeeded by
Robin Dunnigan
Chargé d’Affaires
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