We are saddened by the passing of Carl Spielvogel, an early supporter of the Diplomacy Center Foundation and the project to create the National Museum of American Diplomacy. He joined the Foundation’s Founding Ambassadors Society in 2014.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton appointed Mr. Spielvogel to serve as the US ambassador to the Slovak Republic. He was the US ambassador to Slovakia until April 2001. For his outstanding service to Slovakia, President Rudolf Schuster presented him with the Presidential Medal of Honor of Slovakia.
Before serving as US ambassador, President Clinton nominated Mr. Spielvogel to the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The US Senate approved his nomination in 1995. Now known as the US Agency for Global Media, BBG was responsible for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Voice of Asia, Radio Marti, Worldnet, and other non-military “voices” of the US government. Mr. Spielvogel was also a 2nd lieutenant in the US Air Force Reserve and an infantry soldier in the US Army.
In 2008, to interest Baruch College honor students in pursuing careers at the US Department of State, Mr. Spielvogel funded The Colin Powell Fellowship in International Diplomacy. Named to honor the service of City College graduate and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the program has selected two summer interns each year to serve as the State Department.
Beyond his government service, Mr. Spielvogel was a global business executive, conducting trade and commerce in 55 countries during his 40-year career. Born in New York City, Mr. Spielvogel’s career began working as a copy boy in the news department. He later became a reporter and a six-times-a-week columnist for The New York Times. By 1980, he became the founder/chairman and CEO of Backer & Spielvogel, which became one of the world’s largest marketing and advertising communications companies. The corporation had 178 companies in 55 countries, employing 10,500 individuals around the world. He was the chairman and CEO of Carl Spielvogel Enterprises, Inc., an international investment, management, and marketing company. He was also elected to the board of several publicly owned companies.
Mr. Spielvogel had a lifelong involvement in civic and cultural organizations. He was a member of the Board of Trustees, former chairman of the Business Committee, and trustee emeritus of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was also on the Board of Trustees and Executive committee of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Board of Trustees for the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York, Inc.
Mr. Spielvogel has been married to Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spievlogel—the author of 24 books on the arts, architecture, preservation, and public policy—since 1981. Dr. Diamonstein-Spievlogel has a diverse, admired career in public service on the national, state, and local levels. She recently joined the Diplomacy Center Foundation’s Board of Directors in February 2021.
“Ambassador Spielvogel leaves a strong and inspiring legacy for us all,” says Ambassador Roman Popadiuk, ret., President of the Diplomacy Center Foundation. “He was an early supporter of our efforts to create the nation’s first museum dedicated to American diplomacy, and we are honored to preserve and share his legacy at the National Museum of American Diplomacy.”
Biographical information and image courtesy of Carl Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel.