Costos, James, 1963-

<p>James Costos (born 1963) is an American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 2013 to 2017. He was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1, 2013.</p>

<p>Costos was born in 1963 and grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. He is a second-generation Greek-American, whose father served as a U.S. Marine and was stationed at Camp David during the Truman administration. He is the first in his family to graduate college. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1985.</p>

<p>Costos was a corporate leader and executive in the international retail and international entertainment industries, most notably at HBO and Tod's. His responsibilities included global positioning, external relations, marketing and communications. He is an active supporter of humanitarian organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and the Santa Monica Museum of Art, and an advocate for cultural institutions and cultural diplomacy. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of the United States, the country's largest animal protection organization.</p>

<p>President Obama nominated Costos for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Principality of Andorra on June 14, 2013. The U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination on August 1, 2013, and Costos was sworn in on August 22, 2013. He presented his credentials to the Spanish government in Madrid on September 24, 2013.</p>

<p>His business career has made him expert on the issue of the enforcement of laws against digital piracy, a particular concern of U.S. businesses with respect to Spain. His initial focus, he said, was on issues of international security and thanking Spain for allowing the U.S. to deploy part of its anti-missile shield defense and for hosting U.S. military bases. In September 2013, Costos visited the bases at Rota and Morón to mark the 60th anniversary of the agreement under which they were established.</p>

<p>In October 2013 the Spanish government summoned him to address allegations that the National Security Agency had recently collected data on 60 million telephone calls in Spain.</p>

<p>While visiting California in 2014, President Obama and his wife Michelle stayed at the Costos-Smith home.</p>

<p>In June 2015, he joined other gay U.S. ambassadors in a statement supporting international trade agreements, linking open markets to the development of open societies that provide civil rights protections.</p>

<p>Costos lives in Los Angeles, California, with his partner Michael S. Smith, the official interior designer for the Obama White House. He is a vegetarian, but imposed no dietary restrictions on embassy functions. On the subject of LGBT rights, Costos has said "I am not an activist. I broadly support human rights for straight, gay, women’s issues. And I just happen to be gay.... This doesn't define me as a person, but it is part of who I am. It's like being a vegetarian: it's one more facet of James Costos." He said he and Smith had been welcomed in Spain "with great accommodation" and that because Spain already provides LGBT civil rights, the role he and Smith played was a symbolic for those who still suffered from a lack of enforcement in support of their rights: "What we can do through our messaging is give a sense of hope."</p>

<p>After leaving the White House in January 2017, the Obamas departed Washington for Palm Springs, where they were guests in the Costos-Smith home for several days before traveling to the British Virgin Islands to stay at the home of Sir Richard Branson.</p>

<p>James Costos, an American diplomat and former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and Principality of Andorra, has dedicated himself to building the important relationship between the United States, Spain and Andorra after being sworn in on August 22, 2013 and continues to serve his country as a private citizen.</p>

<p>During his tenure as Ambassador, Costos worked in support of shared goals, including increased prosperity, improved security, and respect for human rights.</p>

<p>Ambassador Costos remains focused on supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, illustrated by the launch of the annual “IN3 -INCUBED” Innovation and Tech Conference he founded in 2014 and hosted in Madrid to promote President Obama's entrepreneurship agenda to increase bilateral investment and trade, create jobs and encourage the creation of next-generation enterprises for Spanish, Andorran and U.S. youth. Ambassador Costos merged IN3 with endeavor.org in 2017, and for his work in this field, he was named The Honorary Chairman of The Chamberi Valley Association, a Madrid based non-profit initiative created by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.</p>

<p>Ambassador Costos received the Sorolla Medal for excellence and contribution to Hispanic arts and culture from the Hispanic Society of America and he received the Medalla de Oro de Canarias from President Fernando Clavijo Batlle for his work promoting the Canary Islands as a platform for American investment and audio visual production.</p>

<p>His efforts on Intellectual Property Rights protection and overall support of the film and TV Industry, both in the U.S. and Spain, earned him being named Honorary Chairman of the Spanish Film Commission.</p>

<p>Shortly before completing his term in Spain, Ambassador Costos received the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest award which can be bestowed upon a civilian by the Secretary of the Navy for exceptional outstanding service and long-term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps and Department of the Navy.</p>

<p>Ambassador Costos was born in 1963 and grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. He is a second-generation Greek-American, whose father served as a U.S. Marine and was stationed at Camp David during the Truman administration. He is the first in his family to graduate college. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1985.</p>

<p>Ambassador Costos was a corporate leader and executive in the international retail and international entertainment industries, most notably at HBO and Tod's. His responsibilities included global positioning, external relations, marketing and communications. He is a passionate supporter of humanitarian and cultural organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and the Whistler House Museum, and is a strong advocate for cultural diplomacy, as reflected in Ambassador Costos' one-of-a-kind “Art in Embassies” collection housed in the Ambassador’s residence in Spain. He served on the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of the United States, the country's largest animal protection organization and adopted 2 Spanish dogs during his tenure as Ambassador.</p>

<p>In February 2017, Ambassador Costos joined the Board of Directors of PJT Partners, an advisory-focused investment bank and is a Senior Advisor at INCUS CAPITAL, a Madrid based Pan-European credit fund targeting special lending, real estate credit, receivables and distressed debt for SME's.</p>