Clay Constantinou (born 1951) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He served as

US Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the United States' diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of th ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

from 1994 to 1999 and as Dean of the

Whitehead School of Diplomacy The School of Diplomacy and International Relations (SODIR) is the international affairs school of Seton Hall University, a private Roman Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in collaboration with the United Nations ...

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

from 1999 to 2005. He is currently Of Counsel at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. a law firm based in Woodbridge, NJ.

Early life

Constantinou earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

New Jersey City University New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, NJCU consists of the School of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, and College of Professional Studies a ...

, a J.D. from

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey. The school confers three law degrees: Juris Doctor, Ma ...

and an L.L.M. from the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

. He practiced law and became a partner in the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

law firm, Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer. Also active in politics, Constantinou first raised money as part of the Tsongas campaign in 1991 but was recruited and later led the

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Presidential finance committee/campaign in New Jersey and served as president of the New Jersey State

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

, one of 15 electors casting their votes for the Clinton/Gore ticket.1992 Electoral College Votes
accessed December 21, 2006 In 1989, Governor

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional dist ...

appointed him Commissioner of the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Town ...

. Constantinou also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Essex County Utility Authority and of

Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey is the only licensed Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association plan in New Jersey, providing health insurance coverage to over 3.2 million people throughout all of New ...

Ambassadorship

In 1994, Constantinou was appointed the

United States Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the United States' diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of th ...

. During his tenure, decisions were reached in Luxembourg including

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

expansion,

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

enlargement and Economic and Monetary Union. In the course of the 1997 Luxembourg European Union presidency, he led American delegations and participated in negotiations with EU officials on trade and global-cooperation issues. Ambassador Constantinou has also advised the Clinton Administration on

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and Eastern Mediterranean issues.

Deanship

In 1999, Constantinou was selected as the first permanent Dean of the Whitehead School of Diplomacy. In 2000 the School of Diplomacy was selected to serve as secretariat and project manager for the 2001

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

theme, ''Dialogue among Civilizations''. The year-long effort produced a report, published by the School, entitled ''Crossing the Divide'' and was presented by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

to the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

. After two three-year terms as Dean, Constantinou returned to private practice.

Honors

In 1991, he was named

Distinguished Alumnus and in 1997

named him "Distinguished Graduate of the Year". In 1999,

conferred Constantinou a Doctor of Letters

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

. In 1996, he earned a certificate at

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

for his participation in the Senior Managers in Government program. In 1999,

President

Glafcos Clerides Glafcos Ioannou Clerides (; 24 April 1919 – 15 November 2013) was a Cypriot statesman, who served as President of Cyprus in 1974 and from 1993 to 2003. A barrister and former Royal Air Force pilot, Clerides played an important role in the ...

awarded Constantinou one of the Republic's highest distinctions, the Medal for Exceptional Services. In the same year Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos bestowed upon him the Medal of Saint Barnabas the Apostle. Constantinou is also the recipient of other honors and awards including the Cyprus Federation of America, Annual Testimonial Award and the American Hellenic Institute, National Public Service Award.

References

External links

Patton Boggs biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantinou, Clay 1951 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Luxembourg Harvard Kennedy School alumni New Jersey City University alumni New Jersey lawyers New York University School of Law alumni Seton Hall University faculty Seton Hall University School of Law alumni New Jersey Democrats American people of Greek Cypriot descent 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers