Joseph Zappala (born September 11, 1933) is an American businessman, investor and politician.
He was official appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Spain on October 16.
[2] Zappala was on the board of directors of Straight, Incorporated, a non-profit drug rehabilitation 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.
[14] 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 policy forum.