Sumner Shapiro

Sumner Shapiro (born January 13 1926 in Nashua, New Hampshire, died November 14 2006 in McLean, Virginia) was a United States Navy Rear Admiral who served as Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence from 1978 to 1982.

Early life and education

Born in Nashua, New Hampshire, Shapiro was a veteran of the Korean War and a 1949 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He earned a Master's degree in International Affairs from George Washington University.

Military career

Throughout the 1950s he served in the Office of Naval Intelligence, reporting to Chief of Naval Operation Arleigh Burke, as well as serving stints in Moscow and London. He was a graduate of the Naval War College and the U.S. Army's Institute for Advanced Soviet and Eastern European Studies in Germany. Throughout his career Shapiro received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Navy Commendation Medal. Shapiro had a strong influence on United States Cold War naval strategy. cite web| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111600153.html | title="Sumner Shapiro, Long-Serving Director of Naval Intelligence"| author=Bernstein, Adam| publisher="The Washington Post"| date=2006-11-16| accessdate=2008-06-16]

Jonathan Pollard

Shortly into his career as an intelligence analyst, convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard had his security clearance reduced by Shapiro after presenting a plan to garner intelligence from South Africa. According to the Washington Post, Sumner dismissed Pollard as a "kook". "I wish the hell I'd fired him," Shapiro would later opine. Pollard's clearance was later reinstated.

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