Louis B. Susman was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's on July 29, 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He took up his duties in London on August 17, 2009.
A banker and a lawyer with extensive experience, Ambassador Susman was the Vice Chairman of Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking. He is also a former member of the Citigroup International Advisory Board. Prior to joining Salomon Brothers, Inc. in June 1989, Mr. Susman practiced law in the City of St. Louis for 27 years and was a senior partner at the St. Louis based law firm of Thompson & Mitchell.
His practice focused on mergers and acquisitions and general corporate law, and as part of his practice, he was a member of the Board of Directors and Management Committee of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1975 to 1989. In that capacity, under his direction, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 1982 and the National League Championships in 1985 and 1987.
Ambassador Susman has long been active in the public sector. In 1988 he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U. S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, which provided oversight to the U. S. Information Agency. He was a Director of the Center for National Policy in Washington, D.C., a nonpartisan organization that examines national public policy issues. Mr. Susman is also a member of the Chairman's Circle of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and a member of the Board of The Art Institute of Chicago and The Northwestern Children's Memorial Hospital.
Ambassador Susman received his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1959 and his LL.B. from Washington University in 1962 where he was elected to Phi Delta Phi.
