William C. Eacho III
Austria, 2009-2013
William C. Eacho, III served as the U.S. Ambassador to Austria from August, 2009 to July, 2013. Before that, he was a successful business manager and entrepreneur with a history of active civic engagement. At present, he is a Visiting Professor of the Practice at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, and Co-Founder of the Partnership for Responsible Growth. Ambassador Eacho's tenure in Austria was marked by broad cooperation on national security and law enforcement issues and stronger economic ties. Five bilateral agreements were signed. Austria was a strong partner to the U.S. on the UN Security Council, providing critical support on Iran sanctions. Austria increased its commitments to peacekeeping missions in the Balkans and Lebanon. Austria provided important support to the US prosecution of an egregious case of US intellectual property theft by a Chinese wind turbine manufacturer. Ambassador Eacho played a significant role in furthering the Southern Corridor pipeline project to bring Caspian gas to Europe, thus enhancing European energy security. Austrian investment in the U.S. hit new highs, marked by an investment of $1 billion by an Austrian steel manufacturer in a new facility in Texas. Full bio.