Otmar Kolber (1941–2009)

Dr. Otmar Kolber, former Honorary Consul General of Austria for Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas and Dean of the Consular Corps, passed away in Houston on September 21, 2009.  

Otmar Kolber was born on August 7, 1941 in Vienna, Austria, and received a Jesuit education before attending the University of Vienna where he studied law and international business. Following his studies he left for the United States in the mid-1960s, where he studied comparative law at the University of Houston, graduating with a doctorate in law. Later he taught at the University of Houston, worked at the Texas Commerce Bank and was active in real estate development, cash management and waste management. He served as associate director of the Houston Grand Opera and was founding director of the Asia Society. He was also involved in the Houston World Trade Association, the Japan America Society, the Eastern European Cooperation, and the Houston Club. A man of many talents and world traveler, he never forgot the splendor of the Austrian Alps where he spent his childhood and often visited. His years of serving as Austrian honorary consul general allowed him ‘to show gratitude to the country where he was born, was endeared to and provided him with a fine education.‘ The Republic of Austria recently bestowed upon him the Grand Decoration of  Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria for his outstanding work representing Austria.