Swanee Hunt
Swanee Grace Hunt (born May 1, 1950), Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, is the founding director of the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at the Kennedy School, and former United States Ambassador to Austria.
A daughter of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt, she grew up in Dallas, Texas and then lived in Denver, Colorado for many years, where she was active in many community and philanthropic activities. She has a BA in philosophy, two master's degrees, and a doctorate in theology. Hunt is also an expert on women in politics, having conducted research, training, and consultations with women leaders in some 60 countries. She is the chair of the Washington-based Institute for Inclusive Security (including the Women Waging Peace Network) which advocates integrating women into peace processes.
In 1981, she co-founded Hunt Alternatives Fund with her sister Helen. The Fund is focused on strengthening youth arts organizations, supporting leaders of social movements, combating human trafficking, and increasing philanthropy. Based in Denver until 1997, the Fund was relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1997, when Hunt founded WAPPP at Harvard University. She has also lectured at Harvard's business, law, divinity and education graduate schools.
Swanee Hunt was appointed as ambassador to Austria in 1993, where she was notable for writing a weekly newspaper column and radio program. She also organized women's conferences in Bosnia and otherwise worked to secure peace in the former Yugoslavia.
Hunt is active in Democratic politics and, in addition to fundraising events for candidates, she recently convened Unconventional Women, a six-hour program featuring more than 20 female political leaders for an audience of 3000 in Denver during the Democratic National Convention.
In 2001, she received the Community of Christ International Peace Award. In April 2007 she was the keynote speaker at the Association of Junior Leagues International Annual Conference. In October 2007, she joined her sister Helen LaKelly Hunt as an inductee of the National Women's Hall of Fame. She is also a photographer and her photographs have been exhibited in more than a dozen one-woman shows; her musical composition, The Witness Cantata has been performed in six cities.
She was married to the conductor Charles Ansbacher, who died on September 12, 2010. They have three children, among them filmmaker Henry Ansbacher, and three grandchildren.
Books
- This Was Not Our War (2001). ISBN 978-0-8223-3355-5
- Half-Life of a Zealot (2006). ISBN 978-0-8223-3875-8
- Worlds Apart: Bosnian Lessons for Global Security (2011). ISBN 978-0-8223-4975-4