Ralph Anthony Dungan was an American diplomat and ambassador from the United States to Chile from December 10, 1964 to August 2, 1967.
Prior to this appointment, Dungan became a legislative aide to Democratic Party Massachusetts U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy in 1956. In 1960, he worked on JFK's campaign to become the 35th U.S. President. JFK remained loyal to his associate of five years and named him one of his two White House Special Assistants to the President in 1961; the second was Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Dungan served as White House Special Assistant to the President in the Kennedy Administration, effective 1961–1964. According to his New York Times notice of death, his assignments in the Kennedy years included service on a task force on foreign aid, handling White House African Affairs and then, finally, handling White House Latin American Affairs, which was to become his specialty and which he would turn into an ambassadorship during the Johnson Administration.
After his ambassadorship ended, Dungan was appointed to become the State of New Jersey's first Chancellor of Higher Education, serving from 1967 to 1977.