Ronald P. Spogli (born 1948) is an American venture capitalist and politician. He is the former

United States Ambassador to Italy Since 1840, the United States has had diplomacy, diplomatic representation in the Italian Republic and its predecessor nations, the Kingdom of Sardinia and then the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Kingdom of Italy, with a break in relations fro ...

and to San Marino. He was confirmed by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

on June 30, 2005, after being nominated by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

on June 9. He was preceded by

Mel Sembler Melvin Floyd Sembler (May 10, 1930 – October 31, 2023) was an American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Italy (2001–2005), and Ambassador to Australia and Nauru (1989–1993). He has also served as chairman of the board of th ...

as ambassador to Italy and is the first American ambassador to

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

from the United States. This new position was created as a result of the excellent relations between the two countries.

Early life

In 1948, Spogli was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Education

Spogli received an A.B. in history from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1970, and was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

in his junior year. He earned an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in 1975 from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, where he was future president George W. Bush's roommate. He lived abroad in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

for two years during his time at Stanford, and became fluent in the

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

Career

Spogli is a co-founder of Freeman Spogli & Co., a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

investment firm. Before that he was a managing director in the Investment Banking Division of

Dean Witter Reynolds Dean Witter Reynolds was an American Brokerage firm, stock brokerage and securities firm catering to a variety of clients. Prior to the company's acquisition, it was among the largest firms in the securities industry with over 9,000 account execu ...

. In 2002, President Bush appointed Spogli to a three-year term with the

J. William Fulbright James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest-serving chair ...

Foreign Scholarship board. Spogli quit working at Freeman Spogli & Co. on July 31, 2005, and was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Italy on August 10, 2005, and to

in September 2006. He left post on February 6, 2009. He received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spogli, Ronald P. 1948 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Italy Ambassadors of the United States to San Marino American expatriates in Italy American financial company founders American venture capitalists Businesspeople from Los Angeles California Republicans Harvard Business School alumni Stanford University alumni Stanford University trustees American people of Italian descent 21st-century American diplomats

Early life

Education

Career

See also

References