Bruce S. Gelb

Bruce S. Gelb is Chairman of the Council of American Ambassadors.

Ambassador Gelb had been appointed Commissioner for the United Nations, Consular Corps and International Business by New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, serving from 1994-1997. In this capacity, Commissioner Gelb was responsible for the strategy and implementation of actions to bring international businesses to New York City and the retention of resident foreign companies, the United Nations and its agencies.

Before his work as a Commissioner for New York City, Bruce Gelb served in the George H.W. Bush administration as the Director of the United States Information Agency from 1989-1991 and then United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium from 1991-1993. Prior to his service in government, he was a Vice Chairman of the Board of Bristol-Myers Company, now Bristol-Myers Squibb, with worldwide responsibility for the company’s consumer products and health care businesses.

Ambassador Gelb has served as a member of President Bush’s Arts and Humanities Committee and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is also a former Trustee of Howard University and a past Board member of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Bruce Gelb is currently a Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club; a Life Trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall; a Board member of the United Nations Development Corporation; and Honorary Chairman and a Regent of the Center for Security Policy. In February 2003, Ambassador Gelb was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Board of Trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He was also President of the Wilson Council until 2006.

Ambassador Gelb was born in New York City. After service in the US Navy, he received his B.A. degree in 1950 from Yale University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1953. He holds an honorary Ph.D. from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Ambassadorial Post(s)

Belgium, (1991 - 1993)
United States Information Agency, (1989 - 1991)

Areas of Expertise