The American Academy in Berlin mourns the passing of longtime friend, supporter and repeated Distinguished Visitor, Ambassador Martin Indyk. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Academy founding trustee and former chair Gahl Hodges Burt, and to his family.

Academy President Daniel Benjamin said: “Martin Indyk was a towering figure in American foreign policy and a relentless advocate for peace in the Middle East. I had the good fortune to work with Martin in the White House in the mid-1990s, and later at the Brookings Institution and in the Obama administration. He was both a friend and an inspiration. Martin was a gifted diplomat but also a critically important thinker about the Middle East and America’s role in that troubled region. This is a loss for the Academy family and also for America, because Martin’s voice was an essential one in our national discussion about the purpose of American power in the world.”

Martin Indyk served twice as US ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration, in 1995-1997 and 2000-2001, and was a key architect of that administration’s Middle East policy. He also held senior roles in the State Department and National Security Council during the Clinton and Obama administrations. Outside his government service, Indyk was a prolific author and commentator whose many essays and books were essential contributions to US foreign policy debates. He was also the founding executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and later served as executive vice president of the Brookings Institution and as a  distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Born in London and raised in Australia, Indyk received a bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Sydney and subsequently studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He completed his PhD in international relations at the Australian National University. He moved to the US in 1982 and became an American citizen in 1993, just days before the inauguration of President Bill Clinton and being appointed as National Security Council Senior Director for the Middle East and South Asia.

Martin was a frequent and welcome visitor to the American Academy in Berlin. He last spoke at the Academy in April 2022, as a Stephen M. Kellen Distinguished Visitor.