April H. Foley (born 1947) is an American former diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

from 2006 to 2009. She was the chair of the board of trustees of The Hungary Initiatives Foundation. Foley attributed her appointment as ambassador to her friendship with

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, a classmate from Harvard.

Biography

Foley was born in 1947. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's c ...

and a Master of Business Administration from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

Career

Before her appointment as ambassador, Foley was a director at the

Export–Import Bank of the United States The Export–Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the official export credit agency (ECA) of the United States federal government. Operating as a wholly owned federal government corporation, the bank "assists in financing and facilitating ...

, becoming first vice president and vice chairman in 2003. She played a vital role in the creation of the Trade Bank of Iraq and was one of six Americans on the American-Iraqi Joint Economic Council. For 17 years, Foley was an executive for

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the man ...

in roles including strategic planning, financial management, and mergers and acquisitions and her work led to PepsiCo's acquisition and integration of

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with ...

. As ambassador, she considers her biggest success to be getting Hungary to be part of the Visa Waiver Program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, April H. 1947 births Living people 21st-century American women Smith College alumni Harvard Business School alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Hungary American women ambassadors Export–Import Bank of the United States people PepsiCo people