AMBASSADOR'S CURRICULUM VITAE

                                                        
Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen presented his credentials to then President George W. Bush on October 3, 2005, as the Ambassador of Denmark to the United States.

Ambassador Petersen has had a distinguished and outstanding career in the Danish Foreign Service, serving on the staff of two Danish Foreign Ministers and holding various senior positions as Permanent Secretary of State and Undersecretary.


PROFESSIONAL CAREER

2005 - Ambassador of Denmark to the U.S.

1997 - 2005 Head of the Foreign Ministry, Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Alternate for the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the European Union Council of Ministers

1995 - 1997 Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy

1994 - 1995 Director, Russia and Eastern Europe Department

1993 - 1994 Chief of Staff of Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen’s office

1986 - 1993 Chief of Staff of Foreign Minister Uffe Elleman Jensen’s office

1984 - 1986 Head of Section, Economic Affairs

1981 - 1984 1st Secretary, Royal Danish Embassy, Cairo

1979 - 1981 Head of Section, Political-Economic Affairs, Foreign Ministry

1979 - 1979 Head of Section, Economic Affairs, Foreign Ministry

1978 - 1979 Head of Section, The National Audit Office

June 1978 Master of Economics, University of Copenhagen


BOARDS

1997 - 2006 Denmark-America Foundation

1997 - 2005 Co-chairman of the Danish-Russian Intergovernmental Council on Economic Co-operation

1995 - 2000 Danish International Investment Funds: The Industrialisation Funds for Developing Countries and The Investment Fund for Central and Eastern Europe

Since 1996, he has been an external examiner at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Aarhus (Political Science - International Relations).

Friis Arne Petersen lectures regularly at Danish universities and has given lectures at several American Universities including:

American University, Boston University, Columbia University, Dana College, Duke University, East Stroudsburg University, Emory University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, High Point University, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, MIT, New York University, Princeton University, Stanford University, St. Olaf College, Texas A&M, Tufts University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, University of Virginia, University of Washington, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest University, Washington & Lee University, Whitman College, and Yale University.

Likewise, he lectures in business associations and political organizations and has published a number of articles on foreign policy issues.


DECORATIONS

Commander of First Class of the Order of Dannebrog and Greenlandic Order of Merit (Gold) as well as Grand Crosses of Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Luxembourg, Romania, United Kingdom (GCMG), and Thailand.

Born 1952 in Skagen. Married to Birgitte Wilhelmsen. They have a son and two daughters.