Cynthia Stroum: 5 Facts on the Former Ambassador to Luxembourg Now Under Fire

Gone but not forgotten.

The State Department issued a report on Cynthia Stroum, the former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, that found that the diplomat and big time financial donor to President Barack Obama was so abrasive in her job that she drove her employees to seek posts in Afghanistan rather than continue working under her supervision.

Surge Desk rounds up a few facts about the woman whose "confrontational management style" was said to have reduced the Luxembourg embassy in a "state of dysfunction."

1. She is a big time philanthropist
Apart from donating approximately $78,000 during the 2008 election cycle, Stroum is one of the founders of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. She has also served on the board of directors at the Shoah Foundation, Birthright Israel, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

2. She knows how to invest her money
Shroud earned a considerable about of cash from well placed investments in Starbucks and Mosaix, Inc., according to the State Department's website.

3. She has dabbled as a Broadway producer
Among her many activities, Shroud co-produced the Tony Award winning Broadway play "A Raisin in the Sun" in 2004.

4. She got the Luxembourg post because of her donations to Obama
As is the history with the ho-hum duties of being Luxemburg's ambassador, this job is handed to an individual who brings in cash during a presidential campaign. According to Opensecrets.org, Stroum was a "bundler" who saw to it that a cool $500,000 made it into Obama's coffers. That's hardly anything new, however. As the website DiploPundint points out, of the 21 ambassadors appointed to Luxembourg by the U.S. over the last 50 years, only three had actual diplomatic experience.

5. She earned a degree in public relations
Though she apparently didn't apply much of what she learned while in Luxembourg, Shroud earned a BA in Public Relations and Journalism from the University of Southern California.

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