This biography is no longer current; at present, no other official Department of State biographical information is available.
David L. Goldwyn is the State Department’s Coordinator for International Energy Affairs. Appointed by Secretary Clinton, he was sworn in on August 17, 2009. On August 30, 2010, Secretary Clinton announced that Mr. Goldwyn will now carry the concurrent titles of Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Goldwyn was President of Goldwyn International Strategies LLC (GIS), an international energy consulting firm from 2001-2009. GIS was a leading adviser on extractive industry transparency. Through GIS, Mr. Goldwyn advised Nigeria’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) on its groundbreaking implementation program, authored “Drilling Down: The Civil Society Guide to Extractive Industry Revenues and the EITI” for the Revenue Watch Institute and headed the sole U.S. firm certified to rate countries on their compliance with the EITI rules.
In addition to his private sector experience, Mr. Goldwyn served the U.S. Government as Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs (1999-2001), Counselor to the Secretary of Energy (1998-1999); national security deputy to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson (1997- 1998); Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1993-1997) and an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the State Department (1991-1992).
Mr. Goldwyn has authored a series of works on energy issues, including a co-edited book on international energy security, Energy and Security: Towards A New Foreign Policy Strategy, (Johns Hopkins University Press, August 2005); “Building Long Term Energy Security: Seize the Moment,” Global Energy and Environment Initiative Green Paper Series: No. 1, Spring 2009); “New Threats to Energy Security,” Current History (December 2006); “The Petrol Factor” (with Edward Morse), Aspenia (April 2006); “A Strategic U.S. Approach to Governance and Security in the Gulf of Guinea: A Report of the CSIS Task Force on Gulf of Guinea Security” (CSIS: July 2005); “Crafting a U.S. Energy Policy for Africa” in Rising U.S. Stakes in Africa: a Report of the Africa Policy Advisory Panel (CSIS: May 2004); “Promoting Transparency in the African Oil Sector: A Report of the CSIS Task Force on Rising U.S. Energy Stakes in Africa” (CSIS: March 2004); and “Extracting Transparency,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Winter 2004).
He also served as chairman of the Global Energy and Environment Initiative at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (2008-2009) and a Senior Associate in the Energy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from 2001-2009. Mr. Goldwyn was a member of Council on Foreign Relations 2007 Independent Task Force on National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependency, and Council of Foreign Relations Center for Preventive Action task forces on Angola, Nigeria, Bolivia and Venezuela and Russia.
Mr. Goldwyn has taught graduate seminars at Columbia and Georgetown Universities, been a frequent commentator on NPR, CNN, the BBC, and in energy trade newspapers. He acquired extensive international business experience as an attorney with the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison from 1986 to 1991. He has been affiliated with the Ford Foundation and the Brookings Institution. He is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the District of Columbia Bar, and the New York State Bar Association. Goldwyn was the first Chairman of the Board of Global Giving, a foundation dubbed “the e-bay of international development,” dedicated to using the internet to match donors with projects in the developing world.
Mr. Goldwyn holds a B.A. in Government from Georgetown University, a Masters in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
