Joseph Zappala (born September 11, 1933) is an American businessman, investor and politician. He served as the Ambassador to Spain from 1989 to 1992.

Early life and education

Zappala was born in New York on September 11, 1933. He grew up in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and is a graduate from the

New York Institute of Finance The New York Institute of Finance (NYIF) is an American Education Company that was founded by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1922. The institute provides continuing education to professionals in the finance Industry and corporations worldw ...

Career

Zappala founded Joseph Zappala Associates. The company has been an operator and investor in different areas including banking interests, real estate and industrial companies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Ambassador to Spain

On October 3, 1989 Zappala was approved 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 ...

. He was official appointed as

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of the United States of America to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on October 16. He presented his credentials on October 16, 1989 and left his post on June 4, 1992. His nomination was controversial as he was one of several made by Bush of long-time financial backers and financial supporters including Peter F. Secchia ( Ambassador of Italy),

Walter Curley Walter Joseph Patrick Curley Jr. (September 17, 1922 – June 2, 2016) was the 57th United States Ambassador to France from 1989 to 1993, and the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1975 to 1977. Curley was New York City's Commissioner of Pub ...

( Ambassador of France),

Mel Sembler Melvin Floyd Sembler (born May 10, 1930) is an American former diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Italy (2001–2005), and Ambassador to Australia and Nauru (1989–1993). He has also served as chairman of the board of the Sembler ...

( Ambassador of Australia), Frederic Bush Morris ( Ambassador of Luxembourg), and

Joy Silverman Joy Silverman (born April 8, 1947) is an American socialite and Republican Party operative and fundraiser. Early life and education Silverman was born Joy Fererh on April 8, 1947, the daughter of Jeanette (née Rothenberg) and Ben Fererh. In 195 ...

( Ambassador of Barbados). Zappala later served as Director of GeoPharma Inc., where he stepped down on December 3, 2004.

Awards

In 1992, he was awarded The

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

Gran Cruz, the highest award ever awarded to a US diplomat by the Kingdom of Spain.

Further affiliations

Zappala was on the board of directors of Straight, Incorporated, a non-profit

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general inte ...

program for teenagers and young adults, which he co-founded in 1976. The program later received harsh criticism for their employment of harmful "behavior modification" techniques like 12-hour confrontational group therapy, beatings and isolation. Zappala served on George Bush’s Presidential campaign and was the National Co-Chairman of Finance for the American Bicentennial Presidential Inaugural. He was a donor to the Republican Party in the 1980s and donated $100,000 to the

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

campaign. He also raised $25 million during his time as Co-Chairman. His donations led to negative press, following his appointment as Ambassador to Spain. In 2008 Zappala was part of a group of 100 former U.S. ambassadors who endorsed

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

for president. Zappala serves as Chairman of the Friars Foundation and is a council member and guest speaker at The Wilson Center, the US's key

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

policy forum.

Personal life

Zappala lives in Florida,

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zappala, Joseph 1933 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Spain Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic People from Florida American financial businesspeople Florida Republicans 20th-century American diplomats