Marc Evans Knapper is an American diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Vietnam since January 2022.

Education

Knapper earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from the Army War College.

Career

Knapper is a career member of the

Senior Foreign Service The Senior Foreign Service (SFS) comprises the top four ranks of the United States Foreign Service. These ranks were created by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and Executive Order 12293 in order to provide the Foreign Service with senior grades ...

, class of

Minister-Counselor Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

. He previously served as the '' chargé d’affaires'' of the U.S. embassy in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and, prior to that, was the embassy’s deputy chief of mission. Earlier, Knapper was director of the State Department’s Office of India Affairs and director of the State Department’s office of Japanese Affairs. From 2004 to 2007, he was political affairs counselor at the U.S. embassy in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. His other assignments include leadership positions in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. From August 1, 2018 until July 12, 2021, Knapper served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan.

Ambassador to Vietnam

On April 15, 2021, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

nominated Knapper to be the next United States Ambassador to Vietnam. Hearings on his nomination were held before the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for authorizing and overseeing foreign a ...

on his nomination on July 13, 2021. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on August 4, 2021. Knapper was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

on December 18, 2021. He was sworn into office on January 3, 2022. Knapper arrived to Vietnam on January 27, 2022 and presented his credentials to president

Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (; born 20 July 1954) is a Vietnamese former politician who served as the 11th president of Vietnam from 2021 until his resignation in 2023 amidst a series of corruption scandals. He also was the seventh prime minister from ...

on February 11. Since assuming his role as U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, Knapper has strengthened U.S.-Vietnam relations, including elevating bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This milestone paved the way for deeper collaboration across sectors, bolstering American interests. Knapper has worked to fortify high-tech supply chains by fostering partnerships between U.S. universities, such as Arizona State University, and Vietnamese institutions. He advanced U.S. security objectives by promoting defense cooperation, including the transfer of training aircraft and facilitating opportunities for American defense manufacturers to support Vietnam’s modernization. Additionally, his efforts in renewable energy negotiations attracted investments benefiting U.S. businesses. These initiatives effectively advance American prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

Recognition

Knapper is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service award, the State Department’s Linguist of the Year award, and a Presidential Rank award.

Personal life

Knapper speaks

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

and

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

. He and his wife, Suzuko, have a son, Alexander.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapper, Marc Evans Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American diplomats Ambassadors of the United States to Vietnam Princeton University alumni United States Army War College alumni United States Department of State officials United States Foreign Service personnel