A native of Seattle, Washington, Donald Yamamoto was sworn in as the US ambassador to Ethiopia on November 9, 2006. Yamamoto is a graduate of Columbia College and received a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University. He received a Congressional Fellowship in 1991 and he attended the National War College in 1996 for senior training. He has studied Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and French. 

Yamamoto entered the Foreign Service in 1980. His assignments have included the US Embassy in Beijing as staff aide to the ambassador and human rights officer during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989; as principal officer of the Fukuoka Consulate in Japan; and as Chargé d’Affaires at US Embassy Asmara in Eritrea.

 

He was the deputy director for East African Affairs from 1998 to 2000, served as US ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti from 2000 to 2003 and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2003 to 2006, where he was responsible for coordinating US policy toward over 20 countries in east and central Africa. 

 

Interview with Donald Yamamoto (Pulitzer Center)