William Eacho
William Carlton Eacho III (born 1954) is a former U.S. ambassador and businessman. He served as United States Ambassador to Austria from September 14, 2009, to August 3, 2013, under President Barack Obama. He was nominated in June 2009, confirmed by the Senate, and sworn in in August 2009. He followed David Girard-diCarlo and was succeeded by Alexa Wesner.
Outside diplomacy, Eacho is the Chairman of the Board at IFES, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. He co-founded and is CEO of The Partnership For Responsible Growth, a bipartisan group pushing for a carbon pricing policy in the United States. He also serves as Board Chair of Friends of Acadia and as Treasurer and a trustee of the American-Austrian Foundation.
From 2014 to 2020, Eacho was a Visiting Professor of the Practice at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Between 2013 and 2018, he was affiliated with the Center for Transatlantic Relations as a Distinguished Fellow and was a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s SAIS, focusing on global energy, environment, and security. He also contributed to the Energy and Security Task Force of the International Peace Institute.
Education and early career: Eacho graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a self-designed major in Law and the Economy (political science and economics). He earned an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1979. He worked as a Financial Analyst at Hornblower & Weeks in New York and as an associate at Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower & Company in Los Angeles.
Political fundraising: Eacho was one of Obama’s top fundraisers, helping raise over $500,000. He and his wife, Donna, donated about $226,000 to federal political campaigns in 2007–08.
Business leadership and boards: Before his ambassadorship, Eacho was CEO of Carlton Capital Group, LLC, and previously served as Executive Vice President of Alliant Foodservice Inc. He sat on the boards of Stanley Martin Companies, Bialek Corporation, and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington. He has also been involved with Duke University’s Trinity College, Landon School, the World President’s Organization, and the Chief Executives Organization. He held an ex officio role on the Salzburg Global Seminar board from 2009 to 2013, joined the full board in 2013, and became a Senior Fellow in 2017.
Honors: On September 24, 2013, Austrian President Heinz Fischer awarded Eacho the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in Gold with Sash—the first American ambassador honored since 1980.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:28 (CET).