Andrew H. Schapiro

Andy Schapiro
United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office September 30, 2014
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Norman Eisen
Personal details
Born	April 25, 1963 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Homewood-Flossmoor High School Yale University University of Oxford Harvard University

Andrew H. Schapiro is an American attorney and diplomat who serves as United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic. He was nominated by President Barack Obama March 6, 2014 and confirmed by the Senate in July 2014. He was sworn in on August 14, 2014 and presented his credentials to President Miloš Zeman on September 30, 2014.^[1]

Early life and education

Schapiro grew up in the Chicago metropolitan area, the son of Raya Czerner Schapiro and Joseph Schapiro. His mother, a Czech immigrant who was born in Prague, was a psychiatrist and Holocaust refugee. His father was a pediatrician. ^[2]

Schapiro graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor High School in 1981. He attended Yale University, graduating with a B.A. in history, magna cum laude, in 1985. Schapiro then attended the University of Oxford on a Marshall Scholarship, earning an M.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, with first-class honours, in 1987. He then entered Harvard Law School, where he served on the Law Review with Barack Obama. Schapiro was awarded a J.D. degree in 1990.^[3]

Career

After graduating from law school, Schapiro clerked for Judge Richard Posner a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. From 1992 to 1993 he clerked for Harry Blackmun, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Schapiro is credited with helping to shape Blackmun’s eventual position as a death penalty “abolitionist.” Schapiro wrote to the justice, "Efforts to fine-tune the machinery of death cannot succeed". ^[4]

Following his clerkships, Schapiro accepted a position in the Federal Defenders Office for the Southern District of New York. He joined the global law firm Mayer Brown in 1998, and became a partner in 2001. Schapiro moved to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. There he specialized in securities defense, intellectual property, commercial litigation and appeals. ^[5]

In 2014, Schapiro was nominated by President Obama to become U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. Schapiro and his wife had served as “bundlers” or fundraisers during Obama’s election and their relationship goes back to law school days. The Senate approved the nomination. Schapiro has since been involved in a public spat after remarks he made that were critical of the Czech President.^[6][7]

Personal

Schapiro is married to Tamar Newberger, and they have two children. They have a thirteen year old Alex Schapiro, and a fifteen year old Galia Newberger.

References

1. Andrew H. Schapiro U.S. Department of State, accessed may 12, 2016
2. Another Obama Bundler From Chicago Gets a Plum Diplomatic Post Chicago Magazine, March 11, 2014
3. Ambassador to the Czech Republic: Who Is Andrew Schapiro? AllGov, June 1, 2014
4. Documents Reveal the Evolution of a Justice The New York Times, March 4, 2004
5. Obama bundler and Harvard law colleague confirmed as ambassador to Czech Republic The Daily News 724, July 23, 2014
6. Czech Feud With U.S. Envoy Andrew Schapiro Deepens Over Russian War Commemoration The Forward, April 6, 2015
7. Czech president bans US ambassador from Prague castle The Telegraph, April 5, 2015