Chase Untermeyer
Encyclopedia
Charles Graves "Chase" Untermeyer (born March 7, 1946) is a former United States Ambassador to Qatar
. He was given a recess appointment by U.S. President George W. Bush
and assumed the position on December 7, 2004. After four years, he was succeeded by Joseph LeBaron
.
A native of Long Branch
, New Jersey
, Untermeyer graduated (1964) from Spring Branch
High School in Houston
, Texas
and, later (1968), from Harvard University
in Cambridge
, Massachusetts
. He entered the United States Navy
after Harvard under the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He served during the Vietnam War
as an officer aboard the Pacific
Fleet destroyer
USS Benner (DD-807)
and as aide and flag lieutenant to the late Rear Admiral
Draper L. Kauffman
, commander of U.S. naval forces in the Philippines
.
In 1976, Untermeyer was elected as a Republican
to the Texas House of Representatives
from Houston, having served from 1977-1981. He had earlier worked as a Harvard student in the 1966 congressional campaign of future U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush of Houston.
Untermeyer has held numerous public positions: Chairman of the Texas State Board of Education, Member and Chairman of the United States Naval Academy
Board of Visitors, a Member of the Board of Directors of National Public Radio (NPR), and Member of the Houston Port Commission. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy
(Installations and Facilities) and Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
, Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel, and Director
of the Voice of America
, and Executive Assistant to then-Vice President
George H.W. Bush from 1981 to 1983.
He was most recently Vice President for Government Affairs at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, having previously been a professor of Public Policy
there.
He has made pre-arrangements for interment at the Texas State Cemetery
in Austin
, a prerogative for all former members of the Texas legislature.
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
. He was given a recess appointment by U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and assumed the position on December 7, 2004. After four years, he was succeeded by Joseph LeBaron
Joseph LeBaron
Joseph Evan LeBaron is the previous United States Ambassador to Qatar and former United States Ambassador to Mauritania . He was sworn in as Ambassador to Qatar on July 18, 2008, in a ceremony at the Simon Benson House of Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. PSU Interim President...
.
A native of Long Branch
Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,719.Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Untermeyer graduated (1964) from Spring Branch
Spring Branch
There are two places and one school district named Spring Branch:*Spring Branch, Comal County, Texas, an area covering most of western Comal County, north of San Antonio.*Spring Branch, Houston, Texas, a community located in Houston....
High School in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and, later (1968), from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He entered the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
after Harvard under the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He served during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
as an officer aboard the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
Fleet destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
USS Benner (DD-807)
USS Benner (DD-807)
USS Benner was a of the United States Navy, named for Marine Second Lieutenant Stanley G. Benner , who was killed during the Battle of Guadalcanal....
and as aide and flag lieutenant to the late Rear Admiral
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
Draper L. Kauffman
Draper L. Kauffman
Rear Admiral Draper Laurence Kauffman was a pioneering underwater demolition expert, who served during the 1960s as 44th Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. During World War II, he organized the first U.S. Navy Demolition Teams, which later gave rise to the SEALs...
, commander of U.S. naval forces in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
In 1976, Untermeyer was elected as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to the Texas House of Representatives
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
from Houston, having served from 1977-1981. He had earlier worked as a Harvard student in the 1966 congressional campaign of future U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush of Houston.
Untermeyer has held numerous public positions: Chairman of the Texas State Board of Education, Member and Chairman of the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
Board of Visitors, a Member of the Board of Directors of National Public Radio (NPR), and Member of the Houston Port Commission. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Assistant Secretary of the Navy is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy....
(Installations and Facilities) and Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
The Assistant Secretary of the Navy is a civilian office in the United States Department of the Navy...
, Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel, and Director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, and Executive Assistant to then-Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
George H.W. Bush from 1981 to 1983.
He was most recently Vice President for Government Affairs at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, having previously been a professor of Public Policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
there.
He has made pre-arrangements for interment at the Texas State Cemetery
Texas State Cemetery
The Texas State Cemetery is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and Vice-President of the Republic of Texas, it was expanded into a Confederate cemetery during the Civil War...
in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, a prerogative for all former members of the Texas legislature.