[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AZITA RAJI OBITUARY
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HON. JOE WILSON
of south carolina
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I would like to include
in the Record the following obituary for Azita Raji.
Azita Raji, a longtime Belvedere resident who served as a
U.S. ambassador to Sweden under President Barack Obama, died
Feb. 6 of metastatic breast cancer.
Ms. Raji, a major fundraiser for Obama, was appointed to
the position in October 2014. However, she wasn't confirmed
until February 2016 after a long delay by the Republican-
controlled U.S. Senate. She presented her credentials to
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf on March 15, 2016, and served
until Jan. 20, 2017.
With her confirmation, she became the first female U.S.
ambassador to Sweden, as well as the first Iranian-born
American to serve as a U.S. ambassador. During her tenure,
she was also nominated for the Sue M. Cobb Prize for
Exemplary Diplomatic Service, the State Department's highest
award for a non-career ambassador.
``The deepest impression Azita made was on the people that
had the privilege of knowing her,'' the U.S. Department of
State said in a Feb. 8 statement. ``Her loss will be deeply
felt by all she touched. . . . She was an inspiring leader,
who loved her time in Sweden and the relationships she
made.''
The statement noted flags at the U.S. Embassy in Sweden
would be flown at half-staff for three days in her honor.
Ms. Raji left a career in finance in 2007 to focus on
fundraising for Democratic candidates and for Obama 's
initial presidential campaign.
By 2012, Ms. Raji was serving as national finance vice
chair and chair of the Swing State Victory Fund for Obama's
campaign. She also served on the national advisory board of
the Democratic National Committee and was a member of the
Obama for America National Finance Committee from 2008 to
2012.
In 2013, Obama appointed Ms. Raji to serve on the
President's Commission on White House Fellows.
Her nomination as ambassador came at a time when Obama had
been criticized for naming ambassadors from among the ranks
of his fundraisers, freezing out experienced diplomats in
favor of those with little international experience or
language fluency, though that is a common practice among
presidents.
While not a career diplomat, Ms. Raji had more world
experience than many of the non-Foreign Service nominees,
having grown up in Iran arid Western Europe. In addition to
English, she was fluent in French and Persian.
Ms. Raji was born Sept. 29, 1961, in Tehran, Iran, one of
two children to Feyed and Parvin Raji. She completed her high
school education in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she competed
nationally as a downhill skier and chess player before moving
to the U.S. when she was 17.
She then attended Barnard College of Columbia University in
New York, where she received a bachelor's degree in
architecture and French in 1983 and a master of business
administration degree in finance in 1991.
She became a US. citizen in 1988.
Earlier in her career as an international investment
banker, Ms. Raji held senior positions at firms including JP.
Morgan & Co., Salomon Brothers and Drexel Burnham Lambert.
She had been a member of the Institute for Chartered
Financial Analysts since 1991.
She was a member of the Bretton Woods Committee, which
supports international finance institutions such as the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Ms. Raji has served as a trustee of the Barnard College
Executive Committee, on the advisory board of Columbia
Business School's Tamer Center for Social Enterprise and as
founding co-chair of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies
at Barnard College. She also served on the economic advisory
council of the Center for American Progress and as director
of the National Partnership for Women & Families. All the
organizations benefited from her philanthropy as well.
On July 4, 2016, Ms. Raji was named an honoree of Great
Immigrants, an annual recognition by the Carnegie Corporation
of New York of inspiring naturalized US. citizens who have
made notable contributions to the progress of American
society.
The same year, when singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was named
the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Ms. Raji
read a letter by Dylan, who did not attend the award banquet,
to the Nobel Committee on his behalf.
She also was appointed a commissioner of the Smithsonian
National Portrait Gallery in 2016.
That same year, she was the first US. Ambassador to Sweden
to march in the country's Pride Parade. She also was the
recipient of the 2017 Ellis Island Medal of Honor and of
Barnard College's 2020 Joan Rivers Trailblazer Award.
She and her husband, Gary A. Syman, a retired Goldman Sachs
partner, were married in 1992 and had lived in Belvedere
since 1996.
In her free time, she enjoyed skiing, swimming, hiking,
travel, reading and cooking Persian food for her family.
In addition to her husband, Ms. Raji is survived by a
brother, Reza Raji of Menlo Park; two daughters, Gabriella
Raji Syman of Belvedere and Elena Raji Syman of New York,
three stepdaughters, Kimberly Syman of Lexington, Mass.,
Stefanie Syman of Brooklyn, NY, and Hillary Syman of
Minneapolis, Minn.; and seven grandchildren.
A private memorial service will be held in June. Donations
in her memory may be sent to Barnard College, Box AS, 3009
Broadway, New York City; NY 10027; or to the Joy Trust Fund
at MarinHealth Foundation, 1350 S. Eliseo Drive #110,
Larkspur, CA 94904.
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