ambassador

Biography

Ambassador-designate Richard Graber

Richard W. Graber was nominated by President Bush as U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic and was sworn in by Secretary of State Rice in Washington, D.C. on September 14, 2006.  He arrived in Prague on September 23, 2006, and presented his diplomatic credentials to the President of the Czech Republic on October 12, 2006.

From 1981 to 2006, Mr. Graber was an attorney with Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., one of Wisconsin's largest law firms.  From 2004 to 2006, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the firm.  While at the firm, his practice focused on business transactions and government relations.  In his leadership of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., Mr. Graber stressed the importance of giving back to the community.  His own volunteer work included membership on the Greater Milwaukee Committee, membership on the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee and Co-Chairmanship of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society for United Way.  He previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.  He is also a past President of the Milwaukee North Shore Rotary Club.

Mr. Graber was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin in June 1999.  He was re-elected in 2001, 2003 and 2005 and was one of the longest serving State Chairmen in the country.  He served as Chairman of the Wisconsin Delegation at the 2004 national convention in New York, was a delegate at the 2000 convention and was an alternate at the 1992 and 1996 conventions.  From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Graber served as Wisconsin's representative on the Republican National Committee's Rules Committee.  He also served as Finance Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin from 1993 to 1999 and as Secretary from 1991 to 1999.

Ambassador Graber and his wife, Alexandria Graber, maintain their home in Shorewood, Wisconsin.  They have two sons, Scott and Erik.  Mr. Graber received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1978 and his law degree from Boston University in 1981.