REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)
POST: Hungary
CANDIDATE: David B. Cornstein
David Cornstein has a distinguished record of achievement as a businessman and prominent civic leader. He is the Chairman of Pinnacle Advisors, Ltd a consulting and advisory firm and was previously President, CEO, and Chairman of Finlay Enterprise, a company he built into a billion dollar NASDAQ Stock Exchange Company during his tenure (1993-2006). A native New Yorker, Mr. Cornstein served as Chairman of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation (1994-2010) and as Vice Chair of the city’s Economic Development Corporation. He was also Chair of the New York State Olympic Games commission and a board member of the Battery Park City Authority and of the Jacob Javits Development Corporation. His great success in business is a testament to his exceptional leadership and management skills. Those abilities, coupled with his effectiveness in building strong and achievement oriented coalitions in his work in the public sector, make him well-qualified to serve as American Ambassador to Hungary.
Mr. Cornstein has served on the Board of New York Law School, the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation and the Jewish Community Relations Council. He was Chairman of the World President’s Organization and is an active philanthropist through the David and Sheila Cornstein Foundation.
Mr. Cornstein earned a B.A. from Lafayette College and an M.B.A from New York University. He has received many honors including recognition as Man of the Year by the Chemotherapy Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Friars Club Foundation, and the Park East Day School. He was the commencement speaker at the Stern School of Business of New York University.