Henry A. Kissinger was the 56th Secretary of State of the United States from 1973 to 1977, continuing to hold the position of Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, which he first assumed in 1969, until 1975. After leaving government service, he founded Kissinger Associates,  an international consulting firm, of which he is chairman.

Dr. Kissinger was born in Fuerth, Germany, on May 27, 1923, came to the United States in 1938, and was naturalized a United States citizen on June 19, 1943. From 1943 to 1946 Dr. Kissinger served in the U.S.  Army Counter Intelligence Corps and from 1946 to 1949 was a captain in the Military Intelligence Reserve. He  received the B.A. Degree Summa Cum Laude at Harvard College in  1950 and the M.A. and Ph.D. Degrees at Harvard University in 1952 and 1954, respectively.  From 1954 until 1971 he was a member of the Faculty of Harvard University, both in the Department of Government and at the Center for International Affairs. 

Secretary Kissinger has written many books and articles on United States foreign policy, international affairs, and diplomatic history. Among the awards he has received are the Guggenheim Fellowship (1965-66), the Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book in the fields of government, politics, and international affairs (1958), the American Institute for Public  Service Award (1973), the International Platform Association Theodore Roosevelt Award  (1973),  the  Veterans of  Foreign Wars  Dwight  D.  Eisenhower Distinguished Service Medal (1973), the Hope Award for International Understanding (1973), the Nobel Peace Prize (1973), the Presidentia1 Medal of Freedom (1977), and the Medal of Liberty (1986).