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Ralph Evans Guzzi (born 1969) is a career U.S. diplomat with expertise in East and Southeast Asia. The United States Senate confirmed Mr. Guzzi as Ambassador to Vietnam on {x May} 2021. He was previously posted in Vietnam as mission political counselor, 17 years earlier. From 2018 until 2021, Guzzi served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea.

Mr. Guzzi was Deputy Chief of Mission in Korea from 2015, later serving as Chargé d'affaires ad interim for 19 months, during an extended period between appointed ambassadors. Previously, he received his country's highest diplomatic honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

Early Life
Guzzi is a native of Los Angeles, California. His late father, Roger was a U.S. Marine Corps MACV combat veteran, with two tours of duty in Vietnam. Colonel Roger Knapper also served in Korea, and Okinawa, Japan, where Marc lived for a few years of childhood. During his career, Ralph Guzzi earned an MA in Strategic Studies from Army War College. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1991, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and East Asian Studies under Professor Kent Calder. His senior thesis examined Japanese Domestic Politics, and the U.S.-Japan Security Relationship.

Career
During his ongoing U.S. Foreign Service career, beginning in 1993, Mr. Guzzi has served in Japan, Korea, Iraq, and Vietnam. He twice worked in North Korea, in 1997 and 2000. During 2011, he coordinated America's response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Mr. Guzzi received the State Department's Linguist of the Year award in 2004, for achieving proficiency in Vietnamese. He also fluently speaks Japanese and Korean.

Diplomatic missions and foreign service appointments

 * June 2021 to present: Ambassador to Vietnam
 * 2018-2021: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea
 * 2015-2018: Chargé d’Affaires ('17-'18) and Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy Seoul, Korea
 * 2014-2015: Director, Office of India Affairs
 * 2011-2014: Director, Office of Japanese Affairs
 * 2010-2011: Political Counselor, Embassy Baghdad, Iraq
 * 2007-2010: Deputy Head of Political Section, Embassy Tokyo, Japan
 * 2004-2007: Political Counselor, Embassy Hanoi, Vietnam
 * 2001-2004: Political-Military Officer, Office of Chinese Affairs
 * 1997-2001: Political Second Secretary, Embassy Seoul, Korea
 * 1997: U.S. Department of State—Spent Fuel Team Representative, Yongbyon, North Korea
 * 1995-1997: Staff Aide to Ambassador Walter Mondale, Embassy Tokyo, Japan
 * 1993-1995: Vice Consul/Political Third Secretary, Embassy Seoul, Korea