William Joseph Sebald (November 5, 1901 – August 10, 1980) was an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Burma from April 1952 to July 1954, and to Australia from 1957 to 1961.
Education and career
Sebald graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1922.[1] Sebald moved to Kobe, Japan in 1925 as part of an officer's language program.[1] Sebald resigned from the Navy in 1930.[2]
In 1933, Sebald earned his juris doctor degree specializing in international law from the University of Maryland.[1][2] He moved back to Japan and practiced law at his father-in-laws firm from 1933 to 1939.[1][2] Sebald also received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Maryland for his study and work in Japanese law in 1949.[2]
Sebald was U.S. Ambassador to Burma (1952–1954), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1954–1956), and Ambassador to Australia (1957–1961).[1][2]
Sebald met his wife Edith France deBecker in Kobe, Japan.[1] They were married in 1927.[1] He died from emphysema in Naples, Florida, on August 10, 1980, at the age of 78.[2]
Works
With MacArthur in Japan: A Personal History of the Occupation, Norton, 1965, ISBN9780393336764
