Theodore Cummings of Los Angeles, a long-time member of President Reagan’s inner circle before Reagan became President, was named yesterday Ambassador to Austria, where he was born.
Owner of a retail food chain in southern California, which he sold in 1959, Cummings is now a California civic leader, philanthropist and investor. His standing with Republicans was dramatized in February 1980 at a silver dinner tribute to his 25 years of service to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The guests included Reagan, Henry Kissinger, Gerald Ford, Edmund Brown and Alan Cranston (D. Cal.).
Cummings and Max Fisher, the Detroit Jewish leader, served as honorary chairmen of the National Coalition for Reagan, founded shortly after Reagan’s nomination. As the first Jewish trustee of the University of California, Cummings fought the conditions attached to a huge Saudi Arabian grant. He has contributed to a variety of Jewish causes and led campaigns for Israel Bonds.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
