Mark A. Meyer
Encyclopedia
Mark A. Meyer is the founder and President of the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce
(1990) and the Moldovan-American Chamber of Commerce
(1993). In recognition of his contributions to the business relations and cultural understanding between these respective nations and the United States, he was awarded Romania's National Order of Merit in the rank of Commander in 2004, and Moldova's highest civilian decoration, the Medal of Civic Merit, in 2006. He is a practicing attorney and an adjunct professor of law at St. John's University Law School among other positions.
by revolutionaries, Meyer and others organized the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce (the RACC) as an independent bilateral organization devoted to improving Romanian-U.S. relations, with Meyer as its first president, a position he still holds.
The RACC played a significant role in helping to change Western perceptions of Romania. The country's first post-Communist president, Ion Iliescu
, was perceived by some Western leaders as a Communist in the Ceauşescu mold. On October 4, 1990, the RACC held a meeting introducing Iliescu to numerous US business leaders in New York, followed in November 1990 with a conference held in Bucharest designed to attract Western investment. Beginning in 1991, the RACC hosted monthly meetings in Washington, D.C. for the purposes of introducing major Romanian political leaders to US business and political leaders. Romanian Prime Ministers Petre Roman
, Radu Vasile
, Mugur Isărescu
, Victor Ciorbea
and Adrian Năstase
as well as Presidents Iliescu and Constantinescu were all attendees at such events, which served to deepen ties between the United States and Romania.
In December 1993, the RACC's role in obtaining Most Favored Nation Trading Status for Romania was recognized by receipt of the Libertatea Award.
In 2002, in part through the lobbying efforts of the RACC and related organizations such as the Congress of Romanian-Americans led by its President, Armand Scala, who is also a National Vice President of the RACC, Romania joined NATO. The acceptance was followed by President George W. Bush's historic visit to Bucharest on November 23, 2002.
The firm has also been involved in prominent matters more recently, such as the restitution of Bran Castle
, purported home of Count Dracula, to children of Princess Ileana of the Romanian royal family in 2006; and representation of the Malaxa and Ausnit families, industrialists in pre-Communist times who presently hold 8% of the Fondul Proprietatea
, an investment fund distributed as restitution
to victims of Communism
.
, Democratic Romania's first President, as well as its second President, Emil Constantinescu
, and general public interest in Romanian relations with the United States, Meyer was frequently covered by the Romanian press, particularly in the 1990s, when his photo was displayed on the front page of the Curierul National
on at least three occasions, each in connection with US-Romanian relations. He was also prominently featured in other national publications in that period, including in the Cronica Romana and the Vocea Romaniei, and appeared numerous times on Romanian State Television.
Since that time, he has remained a steady topic of media coverage in Romania, including in connection with the restitution of Bran Castle and representation of the Malaxa and Ausnit families in receiving restitution for properties seized during Communist times. He is often the target of attacks in the media by hyper-nationalistic right wing groups, who point to his prominence as proof of their anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
(the MACC) was created in 1993 as a non-profit corporation to facilitate cooperation between U.S. and Moldovan businesses, with Meyer as its president, a position he still holds. The MACC has held luncheons and dinners in the United States for Moldova's Presidents Mircea Snegur
, Petru Lucinschi
and Vladimir Voronin
, as well as many of its other leaders. For example, in early 2010, MACC members attended a private dinner in New York with Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat
and Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca
in New York.
When Meyer was Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, he led the mission that authored a 2006 report on the violations of international law in Transnistria
. This document later became a formal United Nations document and formed the basis for a resolution of the Government of Moldova
adopting a plan of action to utilize the rule of law to resolve the Transnistrian crisis.
On October 13, 2011, Meyer was appointed to the World Bank’s Panel of Arbitrators of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) for a six year term by designation of the Republic of Moldova. ICSID is the leading international arbitration institution devoted to investor-State dispute settlement.
In 2007, St. John's University School of Law conferred upon Meyer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, describing him as "a pioneer in promoting the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990."
He has served as an associate professor of law and chair of the Anglo-Saxon Law Department at Universitatea Crestina Dimitrie Cantemir in Romania, an honorary position. He also serves as vice president of the Congress of Romanian Americans
— the only non-Romanian-American to be an officer or director of that organization.
On May 17th, 2011, Fairleigh Dickinson University bestowed the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, upon Mark A. Meyer. The University citation reads, in part: “Fairleigh Dickinson applauds you as an honored son for embracing the promise of other cultures, working tirelessly to promote the rule of law in a developing region and building international relationships based on mutual cooperation.” In his commencement address Meyer told the nearly 3,000 graduates that “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
He has chaired two committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York
, including the European Affairs Committee and the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
Meyer is of German-Jewish heritage, both of his parents having fled that country in 1940 to New York. The lives of his paternal grandparents, who perished at Auschwitz in 1942, were recently the topic of an extensive history of the Holocaust in their native town of Gelsenkirchen
, Germany.
Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce
The Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce is a bilateral trade and investment organization that promotes commerce and investment between Romania and United States, and is headquartered in Washington D.C. The Chamber is composed of both Romanian and American businesses and has active chapters in New...
(1990) and the Moldovan-American Chamber of Commerce
Moldovan-American Chamber of Commerce
The Moldovan–American Chamber of Commerce is a bilateral trade and investment organization that promotes commerce and investment between Moldova and United States. The MACC conducts conferences, seminars, luncheons, and special events for member networking and to facilitate business development...
(1993). In recognition of his contributions to the business relations and cultural understanding between these respective nations and the United States, he was awarded Romania's National Order of Merit in the rank of Commander in 2004, and Moldova's highest civilian decoration, the Medal of Civic Merit, in 2006. He is a practicing attorney and an adjunct professor of law at St. John's University Law School among other positions.
Role in Romania's Transition to Democracy
Meyer's involvement in Romania began in February 1990, less than two months after the execution of former Communist leader Nicolae CeauşescuNicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
by revolutionaries, Meyer and others organized the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce (the RACC) as an independent bilateral organization devoted to improving Romanian-U.S. relations, with Meyer as its first president, a position he still holds.
The RACC played a significant role in helping to change Western perceptions of Romania. The country's first post-Communist president, Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu served as President of Romania from 1990 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a Senator for the Social Democratic Party , whose honorary president he remains....
, was perceived by some Western leaders as a Communist in the Ceauşescu mold. On October 4, 1990, the RACC held a meeting introducing Iliescu to numerous US business leaders in New York, followed in November 1990 with a conference held in Bucharest designed to attract Western investment. Beginning in 1991, the RACC hosted monthly meetings in Washington, D.C. for the purposes of introducing major Romanian political leaders to US business and political leaders. Romanian Prime Ministers Petre Roman
Petre Roman
Petre Roman is a Romanian politician and a former Prime Minister of Romania. He served from 1989 to 1991, when his government was overthrown by the intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma. Roman is a member of the Club of Madrid, grouping 66 democratic former heads of state and government...
, Radu Vasile
Radu Vasile
Radu Vasile is a Romanian politician, historian and poet.-Education and Professional Activity:*1967 - Graduate, with exceptional results, of the Faculty of History - University of Bucharest...
, Mugur Isărescu
Mugur Isarescu
Mugur Isărescu is the Governor of the National Bank of Romania. From 22 December 1999 to 28 November 2000 he served as Prime Minister. He is a member of the Romanian Academy....
, Victor Ciorbea
Victor Ciorbea
Victor Ciorbea is a Romanian politician. He was the Mayor of Bucharest in 1996-1997 and, after his resignation from office, Prime Minister of Romania from 12 December 1996 to 30 March 1998.-Biography:...
and Adrian Năstase
Adrian Nastase
Adrian Năstase is a Romanian politician who was the Prime Minister of Romania from December 2000 to December 2004.He competed as the Social Democratic Party candidate in the 2004 presidential election, but was defeated by centre-right Justice and Truth Alliance candidate Traian Băsescu.He was...
as well as Presidents Iliescu and Constantinescu were all attendees at such events, which served to deepen ties between the United States and Romania.
In December 1993, the RACC's role in obtaining Most Favored Nation Trading Status for Romania was recognized by receipt of the Libertatea Award.
In 2002, in part through the lobbying efforts of the RACC and related organizations such as the Congress of Romanian-Americans led by its President, Armand Scala, who is also a National Vice President of the RACC, Romania joined NATO. The acceptance was followed by President George W. Bush's historic visit to Bucharest on November 23, 2002.
First U.S. law firm to open in Romania
In 1992, Meyer helped found the first Western law firm to open in Romanian when the U.S. law firm in which he was a partner, Hall Dickler, Lawler, Kent & Friedman opened offices in Bucharest. Meyer is a name member in the law firm of Rubin Meyer Doru & Trandafir SCA in Bucharest http://hr.ro/, the predecessor of which was founded by him and three other attorneys in 1995. The firm played a prominent role in the privatization of a number of Romanian state-owned businesses in the 1990s.The firm has also been involved in prominent matters more recently, such as the restitution of Bran Castle
Bran Castle
Bran Castle , situated near Bran and in the immediate vicinity of Braşov, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on DN73...
, purported home of Count Dracula, to children of Princess Ileana of the Romanian royal family in 2006; and representation of the Malaxa and Ausnit families, industrialists in pre-Communist times who presently hold 8% of the Fondul Proprietatea
Fondul Proprietatea
Fondul Proprietatea is a joint stock company established by the Romanian state, but which is intended to become entirely private and independent from the state. Its specificity lies in the fact that its purpose and its operations are governed by special legislation...
, an investment fund distributed as restitution
Restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...
to victims of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
Coverage in the Romanian Media
As a result of his relationship with Ion IliescuIon Iliescu
Ion Iliescu served as President of Romania from 1990 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a Senator for the Social Democratic Party , whose honorary president he remains....
, Democratic Romania's first President, as well as its second President, Emil Constantinescu
Emil Constantinescu
Emil Constantinescu was President of Romania from 1996 to 2000.He graduated from the law school of the University of Bucharest, and subsequently started a career as a geologist...
, and general public interest in Romanian relations with the United States, Meyer was frequently covered by the Romanian press, particularly in the 1990s, when his photo was displayed on the front page of the Curierul National
Curierul National
Curierul Naţional is a Romanian daily newspaper published in Bucharest, established in 1990....
on at least three occasions, each in connection with US-Romanian relations. He was also prominently featured in other national publications in that period, including in the Cronica Romana and the Vocea Romaniei, and appeared numerous times on Romanian State Television.
Since that time, he has remained a steady topic of media coverage in Romania, including in connection with the restitution of Bran Castle and representation of the Malaxa and Ausnit families in receiving restitution for properties seized during Communist times. He is often the target of attacks in the media by hyper-nationalistic right wing groups, who point to his prominence as proof of their anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Activities relating to Moldova
In addition to his activities relating to Romania, Meyer has been prominently involved in promoting US-Moldovan relations. The Moldovan-American Chamber of CommerceMoldovan-American Chamber of Commerce
The Moldovan–American Chamber of Commerce is a bilateral trade and investment organization that promotes commerce and investment between Moldova and United States. The MACC conducts conferences, seminars, luncheons, and special events for member networking and to facilitate business development...
(the MACC) was created in 1993 as a non-profit corporation to facilitate cooperation between U.S. and Moldovan businesses, with Meyer as its president, a position he still holds. The MACC has held luncheons and dinners in the United States for Moldova's Presidents Mircea Snegur
Mircea Snegur
Mircea Ion Snegur was the first President of Moldova 1990-1996. Before that he was Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet 1989-1990 and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 27 April to 3 September 1990...
, Petru Lucinschi
Petru Lucinschi
Petru Chiril Lucinschi was Moldova's second President .- Biography :Petru Chiril Lucinschi was born on January 27, 1940 in Rădulenii Vechi village, Soroca County, Romania...
and Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Nicolaevici Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova since 1994...
, as well as many of its other leaders. For example, in early 2010, MACC members attended a private dinner in New York with Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat
Vlad Filat
Vladimir Filat is a Moldovan politician, the Prime Minister of Moldova since 25 September 2009.- Education and early career :...
and Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca
Iurie Leancă
Iurie Leancă is a Moldovan politician. He is the current Foreign and European Integration Minister in Vlad Filat Cabinet.- Early career :...
in New York.
When Meyer was Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, he led the mission that authored a 2006 report on the violations of international law in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
. This document later became a formal United Nations document and formed the basis for a resolution of the Government of Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
adopting a plan of action to utilize the rule of law to resolve the Transnistrian crisis.
On October 13, 2011, Meyer was appointed to the World Bank’s Panel of Arbitrators of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) for a six year term by designation of the Republic of Moldova. ICSID is the leading international arbitration institution devoted to investor-State dispute settlement.
Awards and honors
In recognition of his contributions to the business relations and cultural understanding between these respective nations and the United States, he was awarded Romania's National Order of Merit in the rank of Commander in 2004, and Moldova's highest civilian decoration, the Medal of Civic Merit, in 2006. In 2004, Meyer was named a Harvard Law School Traphagen Distinguished Alumnus for his "great skill in the economic, legal and political transformation of a developing region" (referring to Romania, Moldova and neighboring countries such as Montenegro). He is also the recipient of Fairleigh Dickinson University's Pinnacle Award, its highest honor for distinguished alumni.In 2007, St. John's University School of Law conferred upon Meyer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, describing him as "a pioneer in promoting the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990."
He has served as an associate professor of law and chair of the Anglo-Saxon Law Department at Universitatea Crestina Dimitrie Cantemir in Romania, an honorary position. He also serves as vice president of the Congress of Romanian Americans
Romanian-American Congress
The Romanian-American Congress is an organization within the Romanian Community of the United States, and is the biggest Romanian-American cultural organization....
— the only non-Romanian-American to be an officer or director of that organization.
On May 17th, 2011, Fairleigh Dickinson University bestowed the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, upon Mark A. Meyer. The University citation reads, in part: “Fairleigh Dickinson applauds you as an honored son for embracing the promise of other cultures, working tirelessly to promote the rule of law in a developing region and building international relationships based on mutual cooperation.” In his commencement address Meyer told the nearly 3,000 graduates that “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Professional and Personal Background
Meyer is an attorney admitted to practice in the state of New York and is a member of Herzfeld & Rubin, P.C. He received an undergraduate degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1968, a juris doctor degree from St. John's University School of Law in 1971 and an LLM degree from Harvard Law School in 1972. He has been teaching a course on Transactions in Emerging Markets at St. John's University School of Law since 2005 as an Adjunct Professor of Law.He has chaired two committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York
Association of the Bar of the City of New York
The New York City Bar Association , founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization, formally known as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, has been headquartered in a landmark building on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth...
, including the European Affairs Committee and the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
Meyer is of German-Jewish heritage, both of his parents having fled that country in 1940 to New York. The lives of his paternal grandparents, who perished at Auschwitz in 1942, were recently the topic of an extensive history of the Holocaust in their native town of Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
, Germany.