George Argyros

George L. Argyros served as U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and Principality of Andorra from November 2001 to November 2004. Ambassador Argyros is currently chairman and CEO of Arnel & Affiliates, a West Coast diversified investment company. He is also one of the founding partners in Westar Capital, a private investment company. From 1981 to 1987, he was co-owner of AirCal, and from 1981 to 1989, he was owner of the Seattle Mariners Baseball Club. He is a member of the boards of First American Corporation; DST Systems, Inc.; Doskocil Manufacturing Company; and Igloo Products Corp. Prior to his ambassadorship, he was a member of the boards of Rockwell International Corporation and Newhall Land and Farming Company. He formerly served as a member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations for the U.S. trade representative until 1990, when President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the board of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. He completed his term on that board in 1993. From 1976 to 2001, Ambassador Argyros set a record as the longest-serving chairman of the board of Chapman University. He remains on the Chapman board while also serving on the board of the California Institute of Technology, where he also held the position of vice chairman of the Business and Finance Committee. Ambassador Argyros is chairman of the Beckman Foundation; former chairman of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation; founding chairman of the Nixon Center in Washington, D.C.; board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; board member of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; trustee of the Library of Congress Open World Leadership Center; counselor of Layalina Productions, Inc.; and former chairman and member of the Orange County Council Boy Scouts of America. Ambassador Argyros was a 1993 recipient of the Horatio Alger Award of Distinguished Americans. He served as president and CEO of the Horatio Alger Association from 1995 to 1998, chairman from 1998 to 2000, and currently serves as treasurer and chairman emeritus. Ambassador Argyros was selected in 2005 as an archon of the Mother Church of Constantinople in the Greek Orthodox Church, Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle. Ambassador Argyros was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Pasadena, California. In 1959, he graduated from Chapman University, and he received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the university in 2005. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Pepperdine University in 1997 and was the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2001.