Gerhard Pfanzelter

H.E. Gerhard Pfanzelter
Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Austria
In office 7 September 1999 – November 2008
Preceded by	Ernst Sucharipa
Succeeded by	Thomas Mayr-Harting

Gerhard Pfanzelter, born in 1943 in Innsbruck, is a prominent Austrian diplomat. He served as the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations between September 7, 1999 and November 2008. In 2000 he served as Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and in 2002 he became Vice-President of the 57th United Nations General Assembly. During the first half of 2006 he chaired the European Union in New York during Austria's Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

As a student, Pfanzelter spent a year as an exchange student in at Elk River High School in Elk River, Minnesota with AFS Intercultural Programs.

He has a Law Degree from the University of Innsbruck and a M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.

Ambassador Pfanzelter successfully led Austria's campaign for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the period 2009-2010.

Previously, from 1983 to 1989, Gerhard Pfanzelter had served as Austria's Ambassador to Senegal, Gambia, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Guinea and Mauritania. He then became the Ambassador to Syria for a four-year term, ending in 1993, when he became the Head of the Department for International Organizations of the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Up to date, Dr. Gerhard Pfanzelter is the longest serving Austrian Permanent Representative at the United Nations. From 2010 to 2012, he served as Secretary-General of the Central European Initiative in Trieste.

Ambassador Pfanzelter is member of the board of the Foreign Policy and United Nations Association of Austria (UNA-AUSTRIA).