Francis Martin O'Donnell

Francis Martin O'Donnell is an Irish citizen who has served abroad as an international diplomat in senior representative positions with the United Nations until retirement, and later with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He was elected Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science in July 2025. He was elected president of the Genealogical Society of Ireland effective March 2024, and President of the O'Donnell Clan Association in June 2024 He is a life member of the Institute of International and European Affairs. He currently continues to serve pro bono as an advisor to the Global Partnerships Forum and is a listed endorser of the NGO consortium known as Nonviolent Peaceforce. He served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Slovak Republic from December 2009 to March 2013. He previously served as a United Nations official for 32 years, most recently as the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Ukraine, from 30 September 2004 until 31 March 2009, and previously in the same capacity in Serbia-Montenegro. In early 2012, he was appointed to the council of the Order of Clans of Ireland, and was elected its chancellor in May 2014. He also served on the board of directors, and completed both terms of office in April 2015. Since then, he has participated in Globsec, the InterAction Council, and is a regular participant, panellist or moderator in the annual Global Baku Forum. He is also a speaker and panellist on global policy issues at seminars and forums of the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, and was a director on the board of trustees of its School of Civic Education in London. He is a member of the Peacemaking Reflection Group of former senior UN officials under the auspices of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability. He is an occasional guest speaker on Irish history and genealogy in Dublin, Madrid, Vienna, and at the Sorbonne in Paris. H