Eugene K. Lawson's picture
The Honorable Eugene K. Lawson, Chair of the Nominating Committee
Lawson International, Inc.

Eugene K. Lawson was co-founder, with Robert S. Strauss, and President of the U.S.-Russia Business Council (USRBC) for 15 years until his retirement on June 1, 2008. Mr. Lawson’s service as CEO of the USRBC established the Council as one of the central participants in U.S. - Russian relations.

In June 2003, Senator Sam Nunn and Senator Richard Lugar awarded Mr. Lawson the Nunn-Lugar Medal for improving U.S.- Russian security relations. In July 2007, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin awarded Mr. Lawson the Order of Friendship “for his significant contribution to the development of commercial and economic relations between the Russian Federation and the United States.”

Prior to establishing the Council, Mr. Lawson was Vice Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, confirmed by the U.S. Senate following nomination by President George H. W. Bush in 1989. In 1988, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the International Labor Organization in Geneva.

A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Lawson received a BA from Princeton University and an MA and PhD from Columbia University.