James A. Knight (born 1948) is the former United States Ambassador to Chad, having been confirmed on May 23, 2013.

[2] He was formerly the State Department's Director of the Office of East African Affairs after serving as Team Leader of the Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (see the Ninawa campaign), based in Mosul, Iraq.

Earlier experience includes assignments to the embassies in Ethiopia; Antananarivo, Madagascar; Banjul, the Gambia; and Lagos, Nigeria.

[3] Knight holds a PhD from the University of Chicago, and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service as an infantry officer in the Vietnam War.

[2] He is married to the former Amelia Rector Bell, a crisis management specialist at the Foreign Service Institute, and they have four children.