Martin J. Hillenbrand Oral History Collection

United States--Officials and employees

Foreign service

Politics and Public Policy

This collection consists of interviews conducted by John Stark, Gary Bertsch, and Mary McKay with Dr. Martin J. Hillenbrand, for Stark's internship with the Center for International Trade and Security (CITS) in 2004. The Russell Library hired Stark in May 2004 to transcribe the interviews, and he continued to conduct interviews with Dr. Hillenbrand through July of that year. The last interview Stark did with Hillenbrand was video recorded, with Gary Bertsch acting as co-interviewer. In September 2004 Mary McKay of the Russell Library interviewed Dr. Hillenbrand regarding his collection of photographs. Topics include the Berlin Crisis, European Union and its future, Hillenbrand's experience in Burma and India, origins of the Center for East-West Trade Policy (currently the CITS), meeting and marrying his wife, Hillenbrand's monograph Power and Morals, and international economics post-World War II.

Biographical information:

At the time of these interviews, John Stark was a senior at the University of Georgia, majoring in German. He graduated in 2004, after he completed his internship with the Center for International Trade and Security.

Dr. Gary Bertsch is the co-founder and Director of the Center for International Trade and Security, and the University Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia.

Dr. Martin Joseph Hillenbrand served thirty-five years as a professional United States Foreign Service Officer. He began in 1939 as vice consul in Zurich, and became Embassy First Secretary in 1952. In 1956, Hillenbrand served as an American political adviser in Berlin. Later he was appointed as the first U.S. Ambassador to Hungary (1967-1969) and Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (1969-1972). Hillenbrand concluded his diplomatic career serving as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from 1972 until his retirement in 1976.
After retiring, Hillenbrand worked from 1977 until 1982 as the Director General of the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs in Paris. In September 1982, he became the first Dean Rusk Professor of International Relations at The University of Georgia. He also served as the Director of the Center for Global Policy Studies and Co-Director of the Center for East-West Trade Policy (Center for International Trade and Security) at the University. Upon retirement from the University of Georgia in 1997, Hillenbrand completed his memoirs, and authored, co-authored, and edited four books and more than twenty-five chapters and articles.
Hillenbrand was married to Faith Stuart (1917-2004). The couple had three children: David, John, and Ruth. The Hillenbrands resided in Athens, Georgia until Martin Hillenbrand's death in 2005 at the age of 89.

Martin J. Hillenbrand, 1915-2005

Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies

2004

RBRL154MJHOH

United States