People: John Kornblum
AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY
When he presented his credentials as U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany on Sept. 10, 1997, John C. Kornblum, '64, was no stranger to either President Herzog or European officials. Over the past three decades, Ambassador Kornblum had developed into the U.S. State Department's leading European specialist. Having served in Hamburg, Bonn, and Berlin (twice), the second time as U.S. Minister and Deputy Commandant in 1985, John now finds himself in familiar territory--and with support past U.S. presidents. In 1991, President Bush named him as the top American at the 1992 Helsinki Review Conference. In 1996, President Clinton named him assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs and special envoy to Bosnia.
For his outstanding service on the Balkan crisis, John won the Secretary's Award in 1996 and was made an honorary citizen of Sarajevo in 1997. 'I was very proud of that,' he says. 'We got the Dayton Accords going--we implemented the government structure of Bosnia, stopped the war, and re-settled the refugees.' John hastens to add that in the long run, continued peace depends on 'the wilingness of people to live together.'
A native of Dearborn, John attended MSU largely because of the Spartan Marching Band, in which he played (tuba and trombone) for three years. 'I really enjoyed MSU a lot,' he recalls. 'I was in Honors College and was able to devise my own program. I took many graduate courses and graduated with educational content far beyond the normal.'
Within two weeks after graduation, he went to the U.S. State Dept., challenged by President Kennedy's 'great sense of engagement overseas,' and has not looked back. When asked for his personal highlight in his long and successful diplomatic career, he mentions President Reagan's historic 1986 'Tear Down the Walls' speech in Berlin. 'That was a line that I wrote,' he says, 'and it was very exciting.'
