Laurie Klinkel Fulton

Laurie S. Fulton

South Dakota is the compass guiding Laurie Fulton from Canistota to Copenhagen and beyond.  After graduating from the University of Nebraska Omaha, Laurie went to Georgetown University where she received her Juris Doctor degree. Growing up in a politically active family, Laurie was involved in South Dakota politics.  She joined Jim Abourezk’s Senate staff in Washington, D.C. in 1973 and has lived most of her life in the nation’s capital area since then.

As the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark from 2009-2013, Laurie found Danish culture familiar, reminding her of her childhood years in South Dakota in the 1950s and 1960s.  Laurie’s start in South Dakota politics now takes her abroad where she has monitored elections in other countries, including the election in which Zelenzky was elected President of Ukraine.

Laurie has always loved history.  As a child she played olden days in her great-grandmother’s attic and read South Dakota history plaques. Living in Denmark gave her the opportunity to research her maternal great-grandfather Mads Jensen-Aale who had been a member of the Danish Parliament.  In addition to researching family genealogy, Laurie serves on the National Archives Foundation Board of Directors and interviews authors at the History Book Festival in Delaware.