James Hormel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| James Catherwood Hormel | |
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United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
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| In office June 29, 1999 – 2001 |
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| Under President | Bill Clinton |
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| Preceded by | Clay Constantinou |
| Succeeded by | Peter Terpeluk, Jr. |
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| Born | January 1, 1933 Austin, Minnesota |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Philanthropist |
James Catherwood Hormel (born January 1, 1933 in Austin, Minnesota) is a philanthropist and heir to the fortune of George A. Hormel, founder of Hormel Foods (producers of SPAM and other meat products). He lives in San Francisco.
Hormel earned a B.A. in history (1955) from Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania and a law degree (1958) from the University of Chicago Law School (later serving as Dean of the latter school.) He was a member of the 1996 U.S. delegations to the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the boards of directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the American Foundation for AIDS Research. He was appointed United States Ambassador to Luxembourg by President Bill Clinton in 1999. When he was appointed through a recess appointment, he became the first openly gay man to represent the United States as an ambassador. His partner, Timothy Wu, held the Bible on which he swore his oath of office.
The James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library is the gateway to collections documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) history and culture, with a special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area. He participated to numerous events, including a conference organized in 2004 by Amnesty International in the frame of the Geneva Gay Pride.
