Gilbert, Mark David, 1956-

<p>President Barack Obama nominated Mark Gilbert as United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa on January 6, 2014. The U.S. Senate confirmed Ambassador Gilbert’s appointment on December 12, 2014 and he was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on January 7, 2015. Ambassador Gilbert presented his credentials in New Zealand to Governor-General Jerry Mateparae on February 9, 2015, and presented his credentials in Samoa to Chief Justice Patū Sapolu on May 12, 2015.</p>

<p>Ambassador Gilbert formerly served as a Managing Director of UBS, the culmination of a distinguished career in finance, which included positions at Barclays and Goldman Sachs. From 2009 to 2013 he served as the Deputy National Finance Chair for the Democratic National Committee.</p>

<p>Prior to his banking career, Ambassador Gilbert played professional baseball for eight seasons, reaching the major leagues with the Chicago White Sox in 1985. Ambassador Gilbert is the first former major league player to become a United States Ambassador.</p>

<p>Ambassador Gilbert served on the Development Committee and Utah Advisory Board of the Sundance Institute; Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Finance Committee at Pine Crest School (1992-2012); and President and Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of B’nai Torah Congregation (1994-2007).</p>

<p>Ambassador Gilbert is a graduate of Florida State University. He and his wife Nancy have two daughters.</p>

<p>Ambassador Gilbert departed Post in January, 2017.</p>

<p>Mark David Gilbert (born August 22, 1956) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who served as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa from 2015 to 2017.</p>

<p>Gilbert played for the Chicago White Sox in 1985. Subsequently, he had a career as an investment banker.</p>

<p>In 2013, United States President Barack Obama nominated Gilbert to be United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. The U.S. Senate confirmed Gilbert on December 12, 2014.</p>

<p>Gilbert is Jewish, and was born to a Jewish family in Atlanta, Georgia. He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his younger brother and sister until 1973, when they moved to Pompano Beach, Florida, where his father and grandfather owned a furniture store. His father Herbert had played professional baseball as an infielder with the Chicago White Sox organization (reaching Triple A), and his grandfather Joseph Gilbert had played semi-pro baseball as a pitcher and been offered a pro baseball contract with the 1919 Philadelphia Athletics.</p>

<p>He is married to Nancy Gilbert. She owns The Masorti Travel Bureau, which developed the itinerary of the first trip of Birthright Israel, an organization that arranges free trips to Israel for first-time visiting Jewish students ages 18 to 25. The couple has two daughters, Dani and Elizabeth. Gilbert served for three terms as the President of B'nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton, Florida, and the Gilberts live in Boca Raton.</p>

<p>Gilbert starred in baseball, basketball (as a point guard), and track at Churchill High School in Pennsylvania (which later merged with two other schools forming Woodland Hills High School), and subsequently at Pine Crest High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was a High School All American in basketball, and All State in baseball.</p>

<p>Gilbert earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida State University. In his senior year at Florida State he batted .322 for the Seminoles baseball team, with 48 stolen bases. He also played basketball for the Florida State Seminoles basketball team for one season.</p>

<p>Gilbert was picked by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft, and signed with the Cubs that summer. In his debut professional year, in 1978, he batted .338 (5th in the Class A- New York-Pennsylvania League), led the league with 83 runs scored, and stole 35 bases (2nd in the league) for the Geneva Cubs, while playing 65 games as a switch-hitting center fielder. In 1979 he batted .314 (2nd in the Class A Midwest League) and stole 50 bases (3rd in the league) while scoring 80 runs (7th in the league) for the Quad Cities Cubs.</p>

<p>On October 12, 1979, Gilbert was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Cincinnati Reds, completing a trade in which the Reds had traded Doug Capilla to the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later on May 3, 1979. He played for the Waterbury Reds in 1980-82, batting .300 (7th in the Class AA Eastern League) with 41 stolen bases (4th in the league) his last year with the team. In 1983 he played for the Indianapolis Indians of the AAA American Association, and in 1984 he played for the Wichita Aeros of the American Association, batting .280 and stealing 55 bases (3rd in the league) and tying for the league lead in walks (77). He became a free agent due to his length of service in the minor leagues on October 11, 1984, and that December 25 he was signed by the Chicago White Sox.</p>

<p>Gilbert was promoted to the major league team from the Chicago White Sox's Triple-A Buffalo Bisons of the American Association in July 1985, and went on to play seven games for the team. He had six hits (five singles, and a double off Dennis Martínez). After a week with the White Sox, Gilbert dove for a line drive, injured his right knee, and was sent back to the minor leagues. On October 15, he was granted free agency. The following year, he left baseball and had knee surgery in February 1986.</p>

<p>After baseball, Gilbert worked as an investment banker at Drexel Burnham Lambert in Boca Raton, Florida from 1986 until 1989, and then as a senior vice president in the equities division at Goldman Sachs in Miami from 1989 until 1996. Gilbert then joined Lehman Brothers in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1996, and remained with the firm as it became Barclays Wealth.</p>

<p>In 2004, Gilbert was a trustee on the national finance committee for the presidential campaign of John Kerry. In 2007, Gilbert began a close relationship as a fundraiser for then-Sen. Barack Obama, and quickly became an early supporter of Obama's successful presidential bid. In 2007, Gilbert was appointed deputy national finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee. Ultimately, Gilbert served as a fundraiser for both of Obama's presidential campaigns. In 2012, the New York Times reported that Gilbert had raised $1.23 million for Obama in 2011 and 2012, and a total of $3.36 million since 2007.</p>

<p>On October 30, 2013, Obama nominated Gilbert to be United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. The United States Senate confirmed Gilbert in a voice vote on December 12, 2014.</p>