The Honorable and Mrs. William C. Eacho, III
Biography
William C. Eacho, III, is a visiting professor of the practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. He is the co-founder and chairman of the Partnership for Responsible Growth, which leads an effort in Washington, DC, to advocate for pricing carbon to address the climate change crisis. He directs a family investment portfolio focused on real estate and private equity.
Ambassador Eacho served from 2009 to 2013 as the US ambassador to Austria. As the ambassador, he oversaw the multi-agency US government presence. He was involved in the US Department of State’s energy diplomacy efforts in support of a Southern Corridor to enhance European energy security. He also pushed for the ultimately successful Department of Justice investigation and prosecution of one of the largest thefts of American intellectual property in US history by a Chinese wind turbine manufacturer.
Ambassador Eacho’s service in Austria was honored by his nomination for the Sue Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service by a non-career appointee. Austria thanked him for his service by awarding him the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold with Sash, its highest award to a non-head of state. He was the first US ambassador in over three decades to be recognized with this award.
From 2013 to 2017, Ambassador Eacho served on the Senior Advisory Group to the Director of National Intelligence. He is married to Donna W. Eacho, who served with him in Vienna, and they have three adult sons: Douglas, Gregory, and David Walker.
Before 2009, Ambassador Eacho was a successful business manager and entrepreneur with a history of active civic engagement. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Eacho managed a diverse portfolio of private equity and real estate investments as CEO of Carlton Capital Group in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1998, he was the executive vice president of Alliant Foodservice Inc., then a $6 billion national foodservice distributor headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. He joined Alliant after selling Alliant his business, Atlantic Food Services—a leading regional foodservice distribution company based in Manassas, Virginia—with annual revenues of over $200 million. He was also the founding chairman of UniPro Foodservice, Inc., the foodservice distribution industry's leading international procurement and marketing cooperative. UniPro Foodservice, Inc. grew to $20 billion in revenues under his leadership.
Ambassador Eacho received a master's degree in business administration with distinction from Harvard Business School in 1979. Before attending Harvard, he was an associate with Hornblower & Weeks, Hemphill-Noyes, Inc., in New York. He graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Ambassador Eacho is a trustee of the Diplomacy Center Foundation, a senior fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar, and on the board of the American-Austrian Foundation, Friends of Acadia, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. He previously served as the chairman and acting CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. He also served on the Board of Visitors of Duke University's Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. He is a member of the Young President's Organization-Gold and Chief Executives Organization. He was previously the Washington, DC, chapter chair of the Young Presidents Organization.