Joseph Edward Lake (born October 18, 1941) is an American career diplomat who, in 1990, became the first resident U.S. Ambassador to the Mongolian People's Republic (the first U.S. ambassador to Mongolia, Richard L. Williams, was not a resident there). Later, he was named U.S. Ambassador to Albania (1994–1996) and then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Information Management (1996–1997). He is the father of late science fiction author Jay Lake.