William E. Schaufele, Jr.

William E. Schaufele, Jr. (December 7, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American diplomat and official at the United States Department of State.

Schaufele was born in Lakewood, Ohio, the son of William Elias Schaufele and Lillian Bergen. He briefly attended Yale University in 1942-43, before enlisting in the United States Army in March 1943. During World War II, he served in the 10th Armored Division, a part of the Third United States Army, which was commanded by George S. Patton. He participated in the Siege of Bastogne, a part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. Following the war, Schaufele resumed his studies at Yale, graduating in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in Government and International Affairs. He then enrolled in the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, from which he received an M.A. in 1950.

After graduation, Schaufele joined the United States Foreign Service, with his first postings being in Germany: as a resident officer in Frankfurt am Main (1950); a resident officer in Pfaffenhausen (1950–52); a resident officer in Augsburg (1952); a labor officer in Düsseldorf (1952); and, finally, as an economic and consular officer in Munich (1953–56). He returned to the United States in 1956, taking up an economic affairs position in the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C., and joining the faculty of the Foreign Service Institute in 1957. Schaufele returned to the field in 1959, serving as a political/labor officer in Casablanca until 1963.