Zumwalt, James Peter, 1956-

James Peter Zumwalt (born April 13, 1956) is a retired American diplomat. He notably served as U.S. Ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau (2011-2014).

A native of El Cajon, California, Zumwalt earned B.A. in American history and Japanese language from the University of California-Berkeley in 1979. He did some post-graduate work studying Japanese at two universities in Japan.

Upon joining the Foreign Service, one of Zumwalt's first assignments was in Kinshasa, Zaire as economic officer from 1981 to 1983. His next assignment, as a consular officer in Kobe, Japan from 1983 to 1985, allowed him to use the Japanese he had learned. He came back to the United States as political officer in the Office of Philippine Affairs in 1987. He returned to Japan in 1989 as an economic officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo until 1993. Then, he was in Washington as economic unit chief in the Office of Korean Affairs at the Department of State and the following year was made special assistant to the assistant secretary in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.

In 1998, he earned a Master’s degree in International Security Studies from the National War College.

In 1999, Zumwalt began a tour as an economic minister-counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. He returned to Tokyo in 2002 as an economic counselor and economic minister at the embassy there. Zumwalt was posted back to Washington in 2006 as director of the Office of Japanese Affairs. He went back to Tokyo in 2008 as deputy chief of mission, serving as chargé d’affaires for a time during 2009. While there, he wrote a blog for the embassy website focusing on Japanese culture and other issues. In 2012, Zumwalt was back in Washington as deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and Korea, a post he held until his nomination to be ambassador.

Appointed U.S. Ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau on November 25, 2014, Zumwalt presented his credentials in Senegal on February 3, 2015 and in Guinea-Bissau on March 10, 2015. Zumwalt left his post on January 28, 2017.

Zumwalt became Chief Executive Officer of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA in February 2017. In September 2019, he transitioned to the role of Distinguished Senior Fellow (Non-Resident.)

Zumwalt is married to Ann Kambara, a retired Foreign Service officer. In addition to English and Japanese, Zumwalt speaks some Chinese and French.