Natsios, Andrew S.

Andrew Natsios served as a state representative from the 58th Middlesex District in the Massachusetts General Court from 1975 to 1987. During that time he served on a variety of committees including Commerce and Labor, Public Service, Ways and Means, Elections Laws, and Housing and Urban Development. While in office he repeatedly voted for tax limitation legislation, the bottle bill, abortion restrictions and prohibition, gay rights, capital punishment, aid to non-public schools, and living wills. In 1986 Natsios introduced legislation to repeal the Massachusetts Teachers' Oath, a loyalty oath dating from the 1930s. His bill passed unanimously. Natsios was named legislator of the year by the Massachusetts Municipal Association in 1978, by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees in 1986, and by Citizens for Limited Taxation in 1986. He was chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee (1980-1986). Natsios was born in Philadelphia on September 22, 1949. After studying history at Georgetown University, he went on to earn a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves for twenty-two years and is a veteran of the Gulf War. In 1995 he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After leaving the Massachusetts legislature, Natsios continued in public service in many capacities. He served at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on three occasions. From 1989 to 1991 he was director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. He then became assistant administration for the Bureau for Food and Humanitarian Assistance from 1991 to January 1993. In 2001 he became the administrator of USAID. At the same time President Bush appointed him Special Coordinator for the Sudan and Envoy to Dafur. He retired from these positions in January 2008. Before assuming these last responsibilities, Natsios was Secretary of Administration and Finance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from March 1999 to April 2000, after which he became the chairman and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority until March 2001. In this capacity he was responsible for managing Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project or "Big Dig," a project he had voted against while in the legislature. He managed to cut costs and lobbied against further federal funding. Natios's other positions include vice president of World Vision U.S. (1993-1998), executive director of the Northeast Public Power Association, and the Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute for Peace in 1998. He has served on the faculty of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University since January 2006. Natsios has authored many articles and two books on foreign policy and humanitarian aid.