Howard Gutman was nominated by President Barack Obama to be United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium in 2009. Ambassador (Rtd.) Gutman has been called “The most popular ambassador ever” by a Belgian Newspaper and “The Ambassador Who Made Us Love America Again” by a leading Belgian magazine. As Secretary Clinton noted during her last visit to Brussels, during Ambassador Gutman’s tenure, the favourability rating for U.S. leadership in Belgium increased 600% and in 2012, Belgium finished first in the world with the highest increase in favourability towards U.S. leadership. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium until July 23, 2013, becoming the third longest serving U.S. ambassador in Belgium over 100 years.

Ambassador (Rtd) Howard Gutman (born July 8, 1956) is now the Managing Director of The Gutman Group, an international consulting and advisory practice focusing on energy, finance, trade, infrastructure, real estate, market access, and strategic foreign policy issues. He also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of Exmar, a leading independent LNG and LPG Carrier Owner, with offices in Europe and America and a Member of the Board of Managers of DTH (Downtown Holding) Partners LLC, a New York real estate development company, with a heavy participation by European parties. He is also a Senior Advisor to a NY Bond Firm and the founder of a fund of funds bridging investors from Europe with Silicon Valley.  He also is on the Chairman or on the Board of Advisors of several start-up companies.

Ambassador (Rtd) Gutman appears regularly on Fox News and Fox Business News (though a Democrat), while writing in the Washington Post and Politico on such topics as U.S. Politics, global affairs, terrorism, US-EU relationship, energy, trade and the changing patterns in the world.  He is a frequent speaker at conferences and meetings, focusing on these topics and often examining the relationship between “geopolitics and pocketbooks” and examining how the geopolitical developments will shape our future.  Having succeeded in fields as diverse as being a top U.S. lawyer and diplomat to acting with George Clooney and Tim Robbins, Ambassador (Rtd) Gutman is also a top motivational speaker as to how to reach not goals, but dreams.

Before being named Ambassador, Howard Gutman was a partner with the Washington D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly LLP., a United States Supreme Court Law Clerk and a Special Assistant to the Director of the FBI for Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism

You can say Howard Gutman is a best example of following the American Dream. Despite being a full-time lawyer in Washington DC and then a U.S. diplomat, Howard Gutman has established a firm and growing footprint in media and Hollywood.  He began his appearances as an actor by playing a lawyer for James Carville, Mary Matalin, Mary McCormack, John Slattery and Roger Guenveur Smith in three episodes of the George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh HBO series “K Street.”  He later played Tim Robbins’ lawyer in the movie “Noise” also starring William Hurt, Billy Baldwin and Brigit Moynihan and appeared with Kelsey Grammar in the movie “Fame.”