Tobriner, Walter Nathan, 1902-1979 

Title:

Tobriner, Walter Nathan, 1902-1979 

Description:

Bio: Walter Nathan Tobriner (b. July 2, 1902, Washington, D.C.-d. July 14, 1979, Washington, D.C.), lawyer, United States Ambassador, and government appointee. He attended Sidwell Friends School, but left early to attend Princeton University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923. He received his law degree from Harvard University in 1926, and began practicing law in Washington, D.C. in 1927. He was a law professor at the National University School for Law from 1927 to 1950. Tobriner served as president of the board of the Garfield Memorial Hospital from 1952 to 1955, president of the board of the Lisner Home for Women in 1954, director of the Blue Cross Plan from 1953 to 1961, and headed the board of the Washington Hospital Center from 1959 to 1961. He served as a member of the Board of Education in Washington, D.C. from 1952 to 1961, and was appointed president in 1957. He was appointed to the Washington, D.C. Board of Commissioners from 1961 to 1967, and served as its last president. Tobriner was chairman of the National Housing Authority, chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from 1966 to 1967, and a trustee of the National Cultural Center, also known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, from 1964 to 1967. He served as United States Ambassador to Jamaica from 1967 to 1969. Tobriner was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1956, 1960, and 1964. He was a member of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City from 1974 until his death in 1979. He served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946. Tobriner is the son of Leon and Blanche, and he married Marienne Smith in 1933.

Relation:

LBJ Connection: Commissioner for Washington, D.C. and Ambassador to Jamaica