Trevor D. Traina (born 1968) is an American businessman who served as the

United States ambassador to Austria This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Austria. The United States first established diplomatic relations with Austria in 1838 during the time of the Austrian Empire. Relations between the United States have been continuous since ...

from 2018 to 2021.

Early life

Traina was born in San Francisco, California to Diane Buchanan Wilsey and John Traina in 1968. His father was a shipping and cruise executive and

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Napa County, California. The area was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on February 27, 1981, after a 1978 petition submitted by the Napa Valley Vin ...

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

and art collector. His parents divorced when he was 12. He has a younger brother

Todd Todd or Todds may refer to: Places Australia * Todd River, an ephemeral river United States * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated c ...

, and five younger half-siblings through his father's marriage to

Danielle Steel Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel (born August 14, 1947) is an American writer, best known for her romance novels. She is the bestselling living author and one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time, with over 800 milli ...

. He was also brother to Steel's son

Nick Traina Nick Traina (born Nicholas John Steel Toth; May 1, 1978 – September 20, 1997) was the lead singer for the punk band Link 80. Life Traina was the son of Danielle Steel and William George Toth. Traina died by suicide by overdosing on morp ...

, who was adopted and given the family name by his father. His maternal grandfather Wiley T. Buchanan Jr. was U.S. ambassador to Austria from 1975 to 1977. Traina attended the Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco and later graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts 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 deg ...

in politics in 1990. He later studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and has

Master of Business Administration 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 ...

from the

Haas School of Business The Walter A. Haas School of Business (branded as Berkeley Haas) is the business school of the University of California, Berkeley, a Public university, public research university in Berkeley, California. It was the first business school at a pub ...

Career

Traina started his career as brand manager at

Seagram's The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational beverage and during the last few years of its existence, entertainment conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian ...

. As an entrepreneur, he was involved in the creation of ''CompareNet'', which was bought by Microsoft in 1999. In total he founded or co-founded five technology startups which were all sold. The most recent was IfOnly which was sold to MasterCard in August 2020. Traina was an honorary advisor to the

Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. FAMSF's combined attendance was 1,1 ...

as well as the Haas School of Business, the

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 117,000 work ...

and other institutions.

U.S. ambassador to Austria

On January 23, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

nominated Traina as Ambassador to Austria. The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Traina's nomination on March 22, 2018. Traina risked controversy for supporting the LGBTQ community by flying a rainbow flag at the Embassy during

Vienna Pride Vienna Pride is a celebration that takes place in the Austrian capital every year in support of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) people. It includes the Austrian pride parade, the Rainbow Parade () which takes place on th ...

despite a ban from the State Department on doing so. Traina is quoted as having arranged the most high level meetings between Austria and the US in history and bringing about an era of ''Verbundenheit'' or "new closeness" between the two countries that had not before been seen. He is also a noted public speaker, having spoken to the Harvard Republican Club in November of 2024.

Awards

The Secretary of Defense awarded the

Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service The Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service is the third highest award presented by the United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense to non-career Federal employees, private citizens, and foreign natio ...

to Traina in January 2021. The Chancellor of Austria awarded Traina the Austrian Grand Declaration of Honor in Gold in January 2021. Traina has been awarded over two dozen patents from the USPTO.

Personal life

Traina is married to Alexis Swanson Traina. He and his wife have two children Johnny and Delphina. His hobby is collecting photographs, an exhibition of his collection in summer 2012 at the Fine Arts Museum was discussed in the media. Traina made a major loan of photographs to the Albertina museum in Vienna for the Fall 2021 exhibition American Photography.

References

External links

Trevor D. Traina biography
at

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traina, Trevor 1968 births Living people 21st-century American diplomats Alumni of the University of Oxford Ambassadors of the United States to Austria American philanthropists Diplomats from California First Trump administration personnel Haas School of Business alumni People from San Francisco Princeton University alumni