OBITUARY

United States Ambassador, Community Pay Tribute to USAID Country Manager Dennis Zvinakis

HANOI  (January 11) – U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak led a memorial service today for Dennis Charles Zvinakis, the Vietnam Country Manager for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Mr. Zvinakis died suddenly on Dec. 22 in Bangkok where he was awaiting his family’s arrival for the Christmas holidays.  

Over two hundred family members, friends and colleagues attended this morning's for Mr. Zvinakis, a hard-driving and deeply committed manager with a dry sense of humor, who had headed USAID’s Vietnam office since 2004 and who paved the way for establishment of the first USAID Mission in Hanoi in 2008.

In addition to Ambassador Michalak's tribute, a number of senior Vietnamese officials joined with coworkers, colleagues and close friends spoke of Mr. Zvinakis' dedication, passion for development work, and deep regional expertise.  USAID’s Hanoi staff and U.S. Embassy staff joined representatives from other donor organizations, diplomatic missions, USAID partners and businesses, as well as top officials from Vietnamese Government ministries and agencies.  Each recalled a frank, fair-minded leader who loved both the United States and Vietnam.

Before serving as USAID’s Country Manager in Vietnam, Mr. Zvinakis was Manager for Asia for the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership, which oversaw environmental progams in 10 Asian countries, including Vietnam.

He also was USAID's Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, managing assistance programs with both organizations.  He previously supervised USAID infrastructure and economic growth portfolios in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Bangladesh.  

During his USAID career, Mr. Zvinakis was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service and held the rank of Officer Counselor.  He retired from the Foreign Service in 1997.

Before USAID, he worked in international banking with Citicorp in Singapore, Brunei and New York.  He also had a distinguished U.S. military career.  

Mr. Zvinakis is survived by his wife, Anh, and three children, Aimee, Alex, and Andrea.  His brother, Allan Zvinakis, resides in the U.S. State of Illinois.

Dennis will be profoundly missed by colleagues and friends in Vietnam and beyond.