Wayne, Earl Anthony, 1950-

Earl Anthony Wayne (born 1950) is a retired American diplomat. He notably served as U.S. Ambassador to Argentina (2007-2009) and Mexico (2011-2015).

Born in Sacramento, California and raised in nearby Concord, Wayne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and Master of Arts degrees from Stanford University and Princeton University before entering the Foreign Service in 1975. Early positions included being Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the European Union; Director for Western Europe at the National Security Council; Director for Regional Affairs at the State Department’s Counter-Terrorism office; National Security Correspondent, The Christian Science Monitor; First Secretary, U.S. Embassy Paris; Special Assistant to Secretaries of State Haig and Shultz; Line Officer in State’s Executive Secretariat; Political Officer, U.S. Embassy Rabat; and a China Analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

From 1996-2000, Wayne was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (EUR) (1997-2000) and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Canada (1996-97). Wayne’s responsibilities included relations with the European Union, OECD, G8, economic and global issues, restitution of Nazi-seized assets, bureau management, public affairs, and U.S.-Canada relations. From 2000-2006, Wayne worked for three Secretaries of State as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs (EB). Under Wayne, EB played a lead role in organizing major international donor and reconstruction conferences and raised billions of dollars in contributions, working with various agencies, governments, companies and NGOs.

From 2006 to 2009, Wayne was the United States Ambassador to Argentina. In Buenos Aires, Wayne promoted U.S. commercial interests and helped increase trade and tourism. He and his team worked hard to improved U.S. image through vigorous public diplomacy, youth engagement and partnership with civil society to overcome high levels of anti-Americanism. Wayne successfully managed government-to-government disagreements, while strengthening cooperation in fighting trafficking in persons, drug trafficking and terrorism.

Following his first ambassadorship, Wayne served as Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs, leading a new office created to improve coordination of over $4 billion in U.S. non-military assistance among U.S. civilian agencies and with the Afghan government, the U.S. military’s programs, and international aid agencies. After a year, Wayne was named Deputy U.S. Ambassador. As the Chief Operating Officer, he supervised an Embassy and field offices of over 1000. Wayne liaised closely with the government of Afghanistan, the U.S. military, and international military and civilian leaders.

From September 2011 to July 2015, Wayne served as United States Ambassador to Mexico. During his tenure, Wayne and his team improved law enforcement, security, defense, border and consular cooperation through new bilateral coordination mechanisms and protocols. Results included increased arrests of criminal bosses, reduced cross-border violence and unprecedented levels of military-to-military cooperation. Education cooperation grew through the new U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research, which resulted in doubling the number of Mexican students and teachers who studied in the U.S. in 2014 and fostered over 50 university partnerships. Wayne left the State Department after his second ambassadorship.

From 2015-2019, Wayne was a Non-Executive Director on the Financial System Risk Advisory Committee of HSBC Latin America. For the bank, he successfully improved its culture and practices on managing financial crime risk. In Fall 2016, Wayne taught at Hamilton College as the Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of International Affairs. He writes and speaks frequently on international topics, including Mexico, NAFTA, Afghanistan, trans-Atlantic relations and trade.

Wayne has been married for over forty years. He speaks French.