Swanee Hunt (born May 1, 1950) is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government, director of its Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP), and former United States Ambassador to Austria. A daughter of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt, she grew up in Dallas, Texas and then lived in Denver, Colorado for many years, where she was active in many community and philanthropic activities. In 1981, she co-founded Hunt Alternatives Fund with her sister Helen. Based in Denver until 1997, the Fund was relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1997, when Hunt founded WAPPP at Harvard University. Swanee Hunt was appointed as ambassador to Austria in 1993, where she was notable for writing a weekly newspaper column and radio program. She also organized women's conferences in Bosnia and otherwise worked to secure peace in the former Yugoslavia. Ambassador Hunt joined the KSG in 1997, and in 1999 founded the advocacy group Women Waging Peace. As of 2006, the Women Waging Peace Network is a part of a larger entity, the The Initiative for Inclusive Security. In 2001, she received the Community of Christ International Peace Award. In April 2007 she was the keynote speaker at the Association of Junior Leagues International Annual Conference. She was kind enough to donate over 1000 copies of her newest book Half Life of a Zealot. In October 2007, she will be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Her sister Helen LaKelly Hunt has already been inducted. She is married to the conductor Charles Ansbacher.
Books
- This Was Not Our War (2001). ISBN 978-0-8223-3355-5
- Half-Life of a Zealot (2006). ISBN 978-0-8223-3875-8
