[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

                                 ______
                                 

                            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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