American Danish Business Council

ADBC BOARD MEMBERS:

Co-Chair Mr. Friis Arne Petersen - Danish Ambassador to the United States

Friis Arne Petersen was born in 1952 in the northernmost town of Denmark, Skagen. He graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1978 with a Master of Science degree in Economics.

Friis Arne Petersen worked as Head of Section in the National Audit Office from 1978-79. He entered the Danish Foreign Service in 1979 serving as Head of Section. He was posted in Cairo as First Secretary 1981-84.

In 1985, back in Copenhagen, he was appointed Private Secretary to Foreign Minister, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, a position he held until November 1990 when he was appointed Head of the Minister’s Private Office (1990-92 for Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, and 1992-94 for Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen).

In 1994 Friis Arne Petersen was appointed Head of the Department of Relations with Russia, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans as well as OSCE. In 1995 he was promoted to Under Secretary, Ambassador, responsible for European affairs, and economic assistance to Russia and Central and Eastern Europe with a special responsibility for Denmark’s policies on EU and NATO enlargement processes. He served as Denmark’s trade representative in the EU trade policy committee (article 133 - Titulaires) from 1995-97. 

A major task was heading the Foreign Ministry during the Danish Presidency of the European Union (2nd half of 2002). The main achievement of the Danish Presidency was the successful completion of the complex negotiations leading to the enlargement of the European Union with 10 new member states from Central and Eastern Europe. Among other major tasks was the Danish campaign for being elected Member of the United Nations Security Council for 2005-07, and as Denmark was elected – also the preparations for UNSC membership.

Friis Arne Petersen has been a member of the board of the Denmark-America Foundation since 1997. From 1997-2005 he was the Danish Co-chairman of the Danish-Russian Intergovernmental Council on Economic Co-operation. From 1995-2000 he was on the board of The Danish International Investment Funds. From 1996 he has been a censor at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Aarhus (Political Science - International Relations). Friis Arne Petersen lectures regularly at Danish Universities as well as in business associations and political organisations. Likewise, he has published a number of articles on Foreign Policy issues.

In 1989 Friis Arne Petersen married Birgitte Wilhelmsen. She has worked as an IT-consultant and graduated from the Zahle Teacher Training College and from Copenhagen Business School as trilingual commercial correspondent (French/Italian/Danish). The couple has a son and two daughters.

Friis Arne Petersen has received the following decorations: Commander of First Class of the Order of Dannebrog and Greenlandic Order of Merit (Gold) as well as Grand Crosses of Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Luxembourg, Romania, U

Robert H. Trice is Senior Vice President, Business Development at Lockheed Martin Corporation, responsible for worldwide new business strategies and operations.  From November 1996 to October 1998, he served as Corporate Vice President, International Business.  He joined Lockheed Martin in 1996 from General Dynamics Corporation, where he was Vice President – International. Prior to that he served six years as Vice President/General Manager for Business Development at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace.

Mr. Trice first joined General Dynamics in 1983, where his assignments included Corporate Director – Middle East and Director for Business Development and Strategic Planning at the Fort Worth Division. From 1981-83 he served as Legislative Assistant to Senator Dale Bumpers (D-AR) for foreign policy, defense and international trade issues.  Previously, he held a number of posts in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, including Director for Technology and Arms Transfer Policy. From 1974 to 1978, he was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University.

Mr. Trice grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia and holds a Bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He also attended the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Mr. Trice is the author of numerous works on American foreign policy and defense industrial issues. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and past Chairman of the International Council of the Aerospace Industries Association.

Mr. Trice is married to Susan Saulmon Trice. They have two children, Robert III and Samantha.