Martin Joseph Hillenbrand (August 1, 1915 – February 2, 2005) was an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

from 1972 to 1976.

Career

Born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

, to a family of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent, Hillenbrand attained a Ph.D. in 1948 from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He became a U.S. foreign service officer almost a decade earlier, entering the

U.S. Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

in 1939, and served in multiple positions before being named Assistant Secretary of State for

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an and

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Affairs during the

Nixon Administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, the ...

. During his 37-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, he held assignments in Switzerland,

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Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, India,

Portuguese East Africa Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

(now:

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), Germany, France, and Hungary. He served as U.S. ambassador to Hungary from 1967–1969 and later as the U.S. ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from June 27, 1972, to October 18, 1976. During his career, Ambassador Hillenbrand developed expertise on European affairs, and he devoted a significant portion of his career to topics related to Germany where he played an instrumental role as a diplomat during the Berlin Crisis from 1958 to 1962.

Later years

After retiring from the U.S. Foreign Service, the former ambassador Hillenbrand served as the Director-General of the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, from 1977-1982. In 1982, Dr. Hillenbrand was named Dean Rusk Professor of International Relations at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

and held this position until his retirement from this university in 1997. In his retirement, the former ambassador Hillenbrand published his memoirs: "Fragments of Our Time: Memoirs of a Diplomat" (University of Georgia Press: 1998). In 2004 Ambassador Hillenbrand participated in an oral history project that focused on his role and understanding of significant world events during his career in the U.S. Foreign Service and also considered his outlook on the future. Audio and video recordings from this project are housed in the Richard B. Russell Library at the University of Georgia. Hillenbrand died in

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, on February 2, 2005, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillenbrand, Martin J 1915 births 2005 deaths American people of German descent Hillenbrand, Martin J. Ambassadors of the United States to Hungary Ambassadors of the United States to Germany United States Foreign Service personnel 20th-century American diplomats Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni