United States Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient. Besides gaining recognition for his political service as the United States Secretary State, he was a diplomat, National Security Advisor, and a political scientist consultant. He received half of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, sharing the coveted prize with Vietnamese politician Le Duc Tho, who refused his half. According to the Nobel Prize committee, the men received the award "for jointly having negotiated a cease-fire in Vietnam in 1973." Born Henry Alfred Kissinger, the oldest son in a Jewish household, his parents were Paula and Louis Kissinger, a schoolteacher. His younger brother, Walter, became a businessman. In his childhood, Kissinger enjoyed playing soccer. He played for the youth team of SpVgg Fürth, which was one of the nation's best clubs at the time. On August 20, 1938, when Kissinger was 15 years old, he and his family fled Germany to avoid further Nazi persecution of the Jewish population. The family briefly stopped in London before arriving in New York City on September 5, 1938. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1943. He served in the United States Army in the 84th Infantry Division, 970th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment, during World War II from February 1943 to July 1946, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He was awarded the Bronze Star in 1945. After the war, he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1950 and received Master of Arts in 1952 and Ph.D. degree in 1954 from Harvard University. From 1954 until 1969, he was a Professor at Harvard University in the Department of Government and the Center for International Affairs. Kissinger earned an international reputation as an expert on nuclear weapons and foreign policy. He frequently acted as a consultant to the State Department and other government agencies and think tanks. He was Director of the Harvard International Seminar from 1952 to 1969. As a politician, he was sworn in on September 22, 1973, as the 56th United States Secretary of State, a position he held until January 20, 1977. He also served as Assistant to the President of the 7th U.S. National Security Affairs from January 20, 1969, until November 3, 1975, under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. In July 1983, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to chair the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America until it ceased operation in January 1985, and, from 1984 to 1990, he served as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. From 1986 to 1988, he was a member of the Commission on Integrated Longterm Strategy of the National Security Council and Defense Department. He has served as a member of the Defense Policy Board since 2001. Before his death, Kissinger was Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm. He was also a member of the International Council of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; a Counselor to and Trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; an Honorary Governor of the Foreign Policy Association; and an Honor Member of the International Olympic Committee. Among his other activities, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of ContiGroup Companies, Inc. from 1988 to 2014 and remained an Advisor to the Board, a position he also held at American Express Company since 2005, after serving on the Board from 1984. He was also a Trustee Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a Director Emeritus of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc.; and a Director of the International Rescue Committee. Besides his Bronze Star and Nobel Prize, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and in 1986, the Medal of Liberty, which was a one-time award given by President Ronald Reagan to 10 foreign-born American leaders.